Evangelion: OMEGA
by The 18th Angel
Summary: Michiru came to Tokyo 3 to learn about the parents she never knew. But she got more than she bargained for...
1. Reunion The Angels Return!

Legal Stuff: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. Anyone and anything you recognize from that series belongs to the folks at Gainax and the genius Hideaki Anno. Anyone and anything you *didn't* see in EVA belongs to me. Please don't sue. I'm not making any money from this, trust me.  
* * * * *  
Dedication: This story is dedicated to my sister, who put up with my constant whining whenever I got writer's block; and who will, no doubt, put up with a lot more of my bitching before I am finished with this story. Thanks Ris.  
* * * * *  
Author's Note: This series is a sequel/alternate ending to Neon Genesis Evangelion. It ignores both the TV ending and the End of Evangelion movie. For the purpose of this story, we will assume that only the first 24 episodes of the TV series (the "DEATH" segment of the movie) actually happened. That said, please enjoy.  
* * * * *  
Another Note from the Author: The complete story I am writing is rated 'R' for language and intense, graphic violence. However, the first chapter contains neither of these things. If you are offended by violence or language, be advised that future chapters will contain both in abundance. Okay thats the last note, I promise. On with the show.  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 01: Reunion/ The Angels Return!  
  
October 17, 2040  
Myojin Home for Orphans, Tokyo 2  
3:47 A.M.  
  
Michiru Ikari couldn't sleep. For six weeks, the same dream had plagued her every single night. It was less a coherent dream than a series of nightmarish images that flooded through her mind. Most nights she had visions of giant creatures locked in battle, the kind of thing she saw in old monster movies. But while the many incarnations of Godzilla and his kin were, at best, laughable; the monsters in her dream never failed to terrify Michiru and drive all thoughts of sleep from her mind. But tonight it was not the nightmares that kept her awake.  
  
Sitting up in bed, Michiru looked around the dormitory that had been her home for the past eight years. The large room was eerily silent in the predawn hours. The only sounds were the occasional car going by on the street below. She looked at the nine other girls who shared the dorm with her. They were all sleeping soundly, not troubled by nightmares of giant beasts.   
  
*Am I just nervous about tomorrow?*, Michiru wondered. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand next to her bed; 3:47,*Make that Today* she thought,*Is that why I can't sleep?* Today was her eighteenth birthday. Today she would leave this place, probably forever. She had grown up with these girls. They had learned, played, eaten, and slept together for as long as Michiru could remember. They were the only family she had ever known. But after today, she might never see them again.   
  
Trying to clear her head of such thoughts, Michiru picked up the glass of water from her nightstand. Seeing that the glass was empty she quietly got out of bed and tiptoed down the aisle in the center of the dorm to the bathroom at the far end. Filling the glass with water, she carefully tiptoed back to her bed. As she set the glass back down on the nightstand, something caught her eye. Even in the meager light that filtered in through the window she recognized the object instantly. To anyone else it was just an old, worn out photograph, but for Michiru it held special meaning. It was the only picture she had of her parents; the only proof she had that they ever even existed.  
  
Michiru didn't need the moonlight to see the picture. She had long ago committed every detail of the ancient photograph to memory just in case anything ever happened to it. It was a group picture of seven people; taken, according to the a handwritten date in the bottom-right corner, on March 17th, 2022, roughly eight months before she was born. On the far left, a skinny man with light brown hair and glasses flashed a big grin at the camera. Standing next to him, tall, thin woman with dark blue, almost purple, hair seemed to be waving at Michiru. The far right side of the photo was occupied by a big guy with black hair and a prominent scar running across his face. He had his right arm around a petite young woman with dark brown hair and freckles on her face. The man's left arm hung at an unnatural angle that had puzzled Michiru for years until she realized one day that the arm was fake. Obviously this man had been through some bad times, yet he and his....girlfriend? wife? both smiled as if they were having the time of their lives. The only person in the picture who didn't seem to be enjoying herself was the small, blue-haired woman who stood on the big guy's left side. She was smiling like the rest of them, but the smile seemed forced, as if it was something she wasn't used to doing. Every time Michiru looked at the old picture, however, her attention was immediately drawn to the center, as it had been when she first received the picture, eight years earlier.  
  
* * * * *  
  
She remembered it like it was yesterday. Her tenth birthday had gone by basically like every other birthday she had known. Some of her friends had bought or made gifts, and everyone she knew made some comment or birthday greeting, if only out of politeness. And of course there had been the excitement of moving out of the juvenile dormitories into a somewhat more private adolescent dorm. But in most respects, it was a day just like any other. That all changed at supper when she received mail.   
  
Mail of any kind was a bit of a novelty at the Myojin Home. The place was an orphanage after all; if the residents had family or close friends to send them mail, they wouldn't have been there to begin with. The thin envelope that was placed in front of her at supper that night was the first and only piece of mail Michiru had received in her entire life. There was no return address and no other clue as to where the mysterious package had come from. Her name and student number were handwritten in the envelope's center. The only other marking on the envelope was a logo stamped on in bright crimson ink. The logo consisted of some kind of leaf cut in half down the center and one word, NERV, where the other half of the leaf should have been. There was also some phrase written in tiny letters arranged in a semicircle below the leaf, but the letters were too small to make out.  
  
Michiru had pondered the mysterious insignia for several minutes before noticing that her entire table had grown silent. Everyone at the table was looking at Michiru expectantly. "Aren't you going to open it?", someone finally asked. Hands trembling with excitement, Michiru carefully opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. Michiru couldn't clearly remember what she had expected to pull out of that envelope. As a ten-year-old girl growing up without parents, she had probably dreamed of a letter from some long-lost relative who would be arriving presently to take her home. But Michiru had always been a practical and realistic girl. Even at ten years old, she knew that such thoughts were simply fantasies. The truth was, she had no idea what to expect. Even so, she was a little disappointed when she pulled out a Recruitment Packet.   
  
Occasionally, the older boys and girls received such packets from the various branches of the military. This was the same kind of packet. The front cover showed a young man and woman in uniform working at a computer terminal and smiling enthusiastically. "Your Future With NERV" was written in big letters just below them. And under that, was the same logo she had seen on the envelope. She was about to set the packet aside and continue eating when she noticed something sticking out from between the pages. Curious, she grabbed the corner sticking out of the booklet and pulled out an old, faded photograph.   
  
Michiru's heart began to race as she looked over the the photo. Her eyes were drawn, almost magnetically, the the two figures in the center of the picture, and she knew immediately, without knowing how, exactly who they were. The words someone had written on the picture only confirmed what she already knew in her heart. Two names were written in black ink on the picture: "Shinji Ikari" with an arrow pointing to a thin man of medium height, and "Asuka Langley Soryu Ikari" with an arrow that pointed to a woman leaning against the man named Shinji. Both were smiling, obviously very happy.   
  
Any doubt she had about who they were was erased when she saw a third arrow in blue ink, almost as an afterthought. The arrow pointed to the woman, Asuka's midsection. At the other end of the arrow was written the name "Michiru Ikari".  
  
Later that night, when everyone else was asleep, Michiru had studied the people in the photo for hours; especially her parents. She recognized herself in both of them. Her mother seemed more European than Japanese; with big, blue eyes, fair skin, and thick auburn hair. Her father, in contrast, was entirely Japanese. He had dark brown hair and eyes that were dark grey, almost black. She had fallen asleep that night, and many since, wondering what kind of people her parents had been and whether she would ever find out for sure.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Now, eight years to the day later, Michiru reflected glumly that she didn't know that much more about her parents now than she had then. The administration of the orphanage had been slightly reluctant to let her look through their files when, shortly after her fourteenth birthday, she became positively obsessed with learning all she could about where she came from. But when it became apparent to them that nothing would dissuade her, they eventually agreed to let her examine her records under close supervision. However, after hours of searching through every computer file she could find, she was disappointed and slightly concerned to find only the most insignificant information about either of her parents. What disturbed her was that in most cases, information was not absent, but rather, restricted. For example:  
  
Name: Shinji Ikari  
Born: June 6, 2000  
Occupation: Restricted*  
Rank: Restricted*  
Residence: Restricted*  
Died: February 10, 2023  
Cause of Death: Injuries resulting from Earthquake  
  
* - Information Classified *Above Top Secret*  
  
The files she had found on her mother were nearly identical. Any important information she might have found about who her parents were and what they did was classified "above top secret". All she knew were their names, and the fact that they both died in an earthquake mere months after she was born. She supposed it was the best she could hope for. But she still wondered why so much about her parents was kept secret, when they looked like such normal, happy people. And she wondered at the strange twist of fate that let two healthy, young adults die in an earthquake, while their four-month-old infant survived without a scratch. And what of all their friends from the picture? Why hadn't she ever met any of them? Had they all perished in the same earthquake that took her parents? If that was the case, then who had sent her this picture?  
  
There were so many questions to which she would probably never have answers that it made Michiru want to scream some days, and to cry others. Tonight, it simply left a dull, aching loneliness deep inside her. She wasn't really unhappy living in the orphanage. The teachers and caretakers were all friendly and seemed to care deeply for their wards. And her friends were wonderful. But on nights like this, she was given to wonder what her life might have been like if her parents had survived. The dreams she had been having lately only made her wonder even more about the life she might have known. If she'd had a mother to tuck her in at night, a father to check under the bed for bogeymen, would she still, at eighteen years old, be awakened in the night by dreams of giant monsters?   
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru barely had any time to savor her eighteenth birthday the way she felt a girl should. Her entire morning was spent signing a never-ending series of legal documents releasing her from government care and setting her up with a job and place to live once she left the orphanage. She was in the middle of signing a security waiver for a cheap apartment when there was a knock on the door. An intern, not that much older than Michiru herself, stepped into the conference room. "Miss Ikari?" she asked.  
  
"Yes.", Michiru replied.  
  
"Do you have a minute?"  
  
Michiru practically leaped out of her seat, eager to be free of this tedious work, even if only for a little while. "I have more minutes than you can possibly imagine.", she enthusiastically assured the young woman. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"You've got visitors.", the reply surprised Michiru more than a little.  
  
"Who would be visiting me?", Michiru wondered out loud.  
  
"I don't know.", the intern shrugged and pointed down the hall. "Room Four."  
  
Two people, a man and a woman, were waiting for her in Room Four. Michiru knew she had never met these people before, yet something about them seemed familiar. They seemed to be taken by surprise when she entered the room. One of them, a tall man leaning against a large filing cabinet finally spoke up. "Michiru Ikari?" he asked.  
  
"Yes?", now Michiru was really confused. If these people came to see her, shouldn't they know who she was? After she answered the man's question, an awkward silence seemed to settle over the room. For a long moment, the two of them simply stared at Michiru, as if in awe. It was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. Finally she got fed up an spoke to them in the most annoyed voice she could muster. "Look; do you guys want something or can I go back to the boring, repetitive work I was doing before you showed up?", she snapped.   
  
She was about to storm out of the room when she saw a change come over both of their faces. The man's eyebrows rose slightly and he even cracked a slight grin. His companion, a strangely familiar woman, actually seemed to be holding in a fit of laughter.   
  
"Something funny?", Michiru demanded, turning her annoyance and pent up frustration on the woman.  
  
"Sorry." her visitor replied, still grinning, "You just reminded me of your mother just then. Sorry about the staring too; its just that.......wow......you've grown up."  
  
Michiru's felt her heart drop into her stomach at the word 'mother'. A lump welled up in her throat making it difficult to breathe. Suddenly she realized exactly where she had seen her visitors before. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out the old photograph that had, until one minute ago, been her only link to her past. There they both were. The woman with dark purple hair, smiling and waving at whoever was holding the camera; and the big man with his one arm and prominent facial scar; how had she not noticed it when she first saw them?  
  
Of course they had obviously both aged since that picture was taken. Oddly the man now appeared older than the woman, where, in the picture she had seemed to be the eldest of the group. That must have been what had thrown her off, Michiru decided. The woman didn't look that much older than she had in the picture. The big guy, on the other hand, had aged quite a lot....and rather poorly.  
  
At first Michiru couldn't speak. There were so many questions she wanted to ask them, so many things she needed to know, but she couldn't make the words come out. "You...you knew my mother?" she finally managed.   
  
"That's right.", the woman nodded, "Your dad too. You need to sit down?", she gestured to a chair across the table from her. Michiru could only nod gratefully; she felt her knees about to give out at any second. She quickly slid into the chair the woman offered.  
  
Michiru was still having difficulty arranging her thoughts into coherent sentences but somehow she managed to blurt out the first question that came to her. "Who are you?" she asked.  
  
The woman smiled. "My name is Misato Katsuragi.", she said, "I am....", she paused a moment, apparently searching for the right words, "I was a friend of your parents." Misato gestured toward her companion,"And this is Toji Suzahara. Another friend of the family."   
  
For a while Misato lapsed back into silence. "I'm sorry." she finally said, "I've spent years thinking about what I would to say to you today; and now that you're actually here I.......I can't find the right words. I know you have a lot of work to do; I know they're setting you up with a job and apartment and all that but....um", Misato seemed to falter, trying to hold back her emotions long enough to tell Michiru whatever she had come to say, "If you can....I mean, if you want to.........we want..........uh, we're willing to.........." On the verge of tears, she threw a desperate look at Toji; almost a call for help. Picking up the cue, he smiled warmly at Michiru.  
  
"I think what Misato is trying to say is that we're here to offer you a second option. We would like for you to come with us."  
  
"With you?", was all Michiru could ask.  
  
Toji smiled again. "To Tokyo 3. We're setting up an apartment there for you if you want it.", he hesitated and a shadow seemed to come over his face, "And...we have a job for you, in NERV. I won't lie to you Michiru. This isn't an easy job; in fact, its potentially very dangerous. I wouldn't ask it of anyone, especially not you, but.......you may be the only person in the world qualified to do it."  
  
Michiru had been in a state of shock from meeting two people who had known her parents. Now some of that shock was replaced with curiosity. What about her could possibly be so special as to make her the only person able to do this job? "Why me?", she asked.  
  
"Because of who you are.", Misato seemed to have finally regained her composure enough to speak, "And because of who your parents were." She smiled, "You could say we want you to take up the family business." A scowl seemed to come over Toji's face at that remark but he shook it off.   
  
"What if I say no?" Michiru asked quietly.  
  
Misato frowned. She was about to answer Michiru but Toji got there first. "If you say no, then we'll go back to where we came from and you can go on with your life. We're not here to force you into doing anything."  
  
"That's right." Misato added, "Although if you do choose that, I hope you'll at least keep in touch. Maybe even visit once in a while. I'm sure you must have a ton of questions about your parents and I'd love to help you find some answers."   
  
"You'd do that for me?" Michiru asked, "Really? Even if I decided not to do this job for you?"  
  
"Well of course I would.", Misato seemed genuinely surprised, as if the thought of doing otherwise had never even occurred to her, "You deserve to know the truth. I owe you that at least."  
  
"All right then." Michiru didn't know why Misato should feel she owed her anything, but she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. She pushed her chair back and stood up. "When do we leave?"  
  
"You mean you will?" Misato asked excitedly.  
  
For the first time since Misato had mentioned her mother, a smile crossed Michiru's face. "Are you kidding?", she asked, "You think I want to be a waitress in Tokyo 2 for the rest of my life?"   
  
"Well then," Misato said, smiling more warmly than ever, "you had better start packing. Our train leaves in three hours."  
  
"But what about all that stuff I have to sign?" Michiru asked.  
  
Misato handed her an official document emblazoned with the NERV logo and a pen. "Just sign here." she said, pointing to a line near the bottom of the page. Michiru took the pen and quickly signed her name on the line Misato indicated. When she was done, Misato took back the paper and stood up. "Okay." she said, "You are now an official recruit of NERV. The rest of your release will be processed by NERV's legal office." She smiled, "Now hurry up and get your things. You don't want to miss the train."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru felt as if she was walking on air as she made her way back to the dormitory. She was still trying to reconcile what had just happened in her mind. After eighteen years of wondering, she was finally going to know who her parents were. The very idea was almost too big for her to grasp. Part of her was afraid that at any moment she might awaken in her bed to find that the entire meeting had been nothing more than a dream.   
  
Michiru would have liked to be able to see her friends one more time before she left, but there was no one in the dorm as she picked up the single suitcase that held everything she owned. Taking one last look around the room where she had spent most of the past eight years, she left quietly, closing the door behind her.   
  
* * * * *  
  
A black car with the NERV logo stenciled on it was waiting for Michiru at the front gate. For the first time in her life, Michiru was able to make out the letters written along the bottom of the logo. Also for the first time in her life, Michiru was glad that everyone at the orphanage had been required to study English. "God's in his Heaven. All's right with the world.", Michiru read the writing to herself. *What a weird thing for someone to put on their logo! What kind of agency is this?*, she wondered after she had translated the writing. Michiru had been so intent on translating the English words, she had failed to notice Misato standing behind her.   
  
"Something interesting?", Michiru jumped slightly, startled by Misato's sudden question.  
  
"I was just reading.......this.", Michiru wasn't even sure how to describe the cryptic phrase she had just read.  
  
"Oh that.", Misato laughed, "Don't ask me who thought that up. Its been like that since before I joined NERV. We mostly just keep it that way for old times' sake. Ready to go?", she asked, "Major Suzahara is already waiting for us at the station."  
  
Misato's perky attitude was infectious, Michiru found herself smiling despite her sadness about leaving behind her friends. "Umm......I didn't get a chance to thank you for doing all this Miss Katsuragi." she lifted her eyes to meet Misato's. "Thank you."  
  
Misato smiled. "You're welcome." she said, "But you can drop the 'Miss Katsuragi' bit. Its just 'Misato' when we're off duty."  
  
"And when we're on duty?", Michiru asked.  
  
Misato seemed to consider her answer for a moment. "Well," she finally said, "'Supremely Wise and Powerful Leader' has a nice ring to it. But 'Commander' will do in a pinch." Misato was obviously trying to cheer her up, and Michiru had to admit that, so far, it was working. She felt better already.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sitting across from Michiru on the train ride back to Tokyo 3, Toji Suzahara couldn't help but stare in wonder at the girl in front of him. People often spoke of children as looking like a mixture of their parents' best attributes. Michiru Ikari was the perfect embodiment of that principle. Most of her features had come from her mother, Asuka. In fact, she might very well have been a copy of Asuka, but for a few places where her father's genes clearly held sway. Her hair, for one thing, was the same dark brown as Shinji's, and her overall facial features were more Japanese than German, except for her eyes, which were just like Asuka's, though perhaps a slightly darker shade of blue. Toji sighed sadly, he wished Shinji and Asuka could have seen what a beautiful young woman their daughter grew up to be.  
  
Michiru must have noticed his sigh, because she turned away from the widow she had been staring out of and toward him. "Are you all right Major Suzahara?", she asked.   
  
Toji forced a smile and shifted in his seat. "I'm all right." he said, "And you can call me Toji." He noticed a peculiar look come over Michiru's face, she seemed to be staring at his left arm. "What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"I'm sorry." she said, "I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that........I have this picture......and your arm; I mean, in the picture, its.......it wasn't there...I mean, it wasn't real....." she trailed off, obviously very embarrassed.  
  
Toji smiled. Her shyness reminded him of how her father had been when they first met. He held up his left arm and pulled off his uniform glove, revealing a shiny metal construct in the form of a human hand. "State-of-the-art cybernetics." he said; and then in a barely audible whisper he added, "Almost as good as the real thing." But Michiru didn't seem to hear him. Apparently she was still embarrassed about her perceived impoliteness, as she spent the rest of the trip staring out of the window, watching the countryside roll by.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The train rolled into Tokyo 3 late in the afternoon. Another NERV car was waiting for them when they got off the train. As the car drove through the streets of Tokyo 3 Michiru felt like a tourist, craning her neck to take in everything around her. She had read about Tokyo 3 in books and magazines for years. The city was called "a technological miracle" by one writer, and "the eighth wonder of the world" by another. Looking around, Michiru found it hard to disagree. The city was absolutely beautiful, not at all like the dingy urban sprawl of Tokyo 2. The streets were lined with potted trees and the occasional bush or flower bed. The massive skyscrapers shone like polished jewels in the light from the setting sun. Everywhere Michiru looked, something new caught her attention.   
  
The more she looked at the city, however, the more something seemed odd about it. Michiru quickly put her finger on the problem. Tokyo 3 was built like a fortress. The buildings looked normal at first glance, but closer inspection revealed reinforced metal foundations, probably titanium, and masonry that looked as though it could withstand heavy artillery fire. Some of the buildings even seemed to have tracks going up the sides, reminding Michiru of a rumor she had heard once; that many of the buildings in Tokyo 3 could actually be lowered into underground bunkers in the event of an attack. At the time she had dismissed the story as nothing more than an urban legend but now she wasn't so sure. Moreover, nearly every part of the city bore some kind of safety alert or warning message, but these were unlike any safety warnings Michiru had ever seen. A huge pair of doors set into street bore the message:  
  
Caution!  
EVA Lift  
No Parking! Keep Doors Clear!  
  
*What the heck is an EVA Lift?*, Michiru wondered. She saw another message painted in huge red letters on the side of a tall building.  
  
Emergency Re-Supply Station  
B-127  
  
The militaristic design of the city was strange, no doubt about it. But Michiru was having far too good a time to worry about it for very long. She had always wanted to visit Tokyo 3, but never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought she would one day live here. Now that she was here, she wasn't about to let a few architectural idiosyncrasies spoil it for her.   
  
The NERV car pulled up next to a plain grey stone apartment building. "This is where we get off." Misato said cheerfully. A young NERV officer came around to the the back of the car and opened the door for them. Misato got out and beckoned for Michiru to follow her. As they slid out of the car Toji leaned over and spoke to Misato. "I have some things to take care of back at the lab, Commander."   
  
"Ok." Misato replied cheerfully, "Say hi to Machiko for me."  
  
"Will do." Toji said smiling. Turning to Michiru he said, "It was nice meeting you, Michiru. I'll see you tomorrow." Michiru, still feeling shy around the Major, found herself able only to nod and return Toji's friendly smile.  
  
"Well," Misato said as the car pulled away, "Let's go see your new place."  
  
It was in the lobby of her new apartment building that the first and only dark spot on Michiru's day occurred. When they tried to check in and pick up the keys to Michiru's apartment, the man behind the desk informed them that the apartment was not ready for Michiru to move in.  
  
"What's wrong with it?" Misato demanded.  
  
"All the apartments on that floor are being repainted this week. It should be ready the day after tomorrow." he replied, "If you'd like, I can arrange for the young lady to stay at a hotel until then."  
  
Misato walked over to where Michiru was waiting with her suitcase. "Ok." she said, "He's willing to get you a hotel room to stay in until your apartment is ready. You want to go ahead and do that?"  
  
Michiru didn't much care where she slept as long as she woke up still in Tokyo 3, not back at the Orphanage. She nodded, "That sounds fine to me." she said.  
  
Misato started to walk back to the counter, then suddenly she stopped and spun around to face Michiru. "I just had a better idea." she said excitedly, "Why don't you stay at my place until yours is ready?"  
  
Misato's question caught Michiru off guard. "Your place?" she asked, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah!" Misato said, really getting into the idea, "It'll be fun!"  
  
"Well......alright.....I guess", Michiru finally agreed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato's apartment was on the other side of Tokyo 3, but Michiru didn't mind the walk. It gave her a chance to appreciate the city up close. Most of Tokyo 3 ran on solar power from giant collectors on the outskirts of the city. As a result, the air here was much cleaner than in Tokyo 2 and the sky was not obscured by smog. Michiru breathed in the fresh, crisp fall air and gazed up at the most beautiful stars she had ever seen. She had been in Tokyo 3 less than two hours and she loved it already.  
  
They stopped for dinner at a ramen stand near Misato's apartment. The night had turned quite chilly, and the hot ramen was the perfect meal to take the edge off the cold. As they ate, Michiru studied the woman seated next to her. She did look older than in Michiru's picture; not eighteen years older, but older nonetheless. In the picture Misato was a pretty young woman, she looked happy, carefree, even innocent in a way. The woman seated next to Michiru, though still quite stunning physically, seemed to have lost some of the joy her picture portrayed. It was as if some unknown weight had settled on her soul. She still had the same gleam in her eyes though, and the same friendly, engaging smile.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato's place was a dump. Michiru tried desperately to find some other way of describing the apartment but there wasn't one. The building was in a good part of town, and the apartment itself seemed fairly nice. It was the 'decor' that made the place a dump. Every flat surface Michiru could see was littered with dirty plates, empty cups of instant ramen, and a record-worthy collection of empty beer cans.  
  
"Sorry about the mess." Misato apologized as Michiru surveyed the disaster area that was supposed to be a kitchenette, "I wasn't expecting visitors or I would have cleaned the place up."  
  
"Oh, I don't mind." Michiru said truthfully. She didn't really care how Misato chose to keep her own apartment. Not that *she* could imagine living like this for long.  
  
"Okay." Misato said cheerfully. Michiru's acceptance of her living conditions seemed to put her at ease. "Let's get you settled in." She led Michiru to a small bedroom that seemed to be the only clean room in the house. In fact it looked as if no one had been in the room for a very long time. "This used to be your dad's room," Misato's voice took on a far away, nostalgic tone, "....a long time ago."  
  
"My father lived with you?" Michiru asked.  
  
Misato nodded. "So did your mother. They both lived here until about a month before their wedding." she said, "Your mom stayed in the next room over." She winked mischievously. "Well, most of the time."  
  
Michiru blushed slightly at the very obvious innuendo. She looked over the entire room for some sign that her father had once lived here. But the room was completely barren. That didn't really surprise her of course. Misato had just said that they moved out before they were married, naturally they would have taken their belongings with them. She sat down on the small futon somewhat dejectedly. She shouldn't have expected to find any physical evidence that this had been her father's bedroom. But she had, never the less, hoped to find some clue about what kind of person he was. That was when it occurred to Michiru that she could always just ask....  
  
"What were they like?" Misato had been turning to go, evidently intending to give her some time alone. When Michiru spoke to her, she turned again, came back into the room and sat down next to Michiru.  
  
"Well." she said, trying to decide how to begin. "They were very........different. You know how people say that opposites attract?" Michiru nodded. "Well your parents were definitely proof of that. Shinji was very quite; kind of shy. But he was very brave in his own way, and a lot stronger than he gave himself credit for."  
  
"What about my mother?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Asuka?", Misato smiled, "She was..........well she was a lot like you; strong, independent, very smart."   
  
"I wish I could have known them." Michiru said sadly.  
  
"So do I." Misato replied, standing up and heading to the door. "They would have been so proud of you." Michiru smiled at Misato's compliment. "Now you should try to get some sleep." Misato said. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."  
  
Michiru was sure she would be unable to sleep with everything that had happened today still fresh in her mind. Nevertheless, she nodded and stretched out on the surprisingly comfortable futon. She had intended to get back up and change out of her school uniform once Misato left the room, but seconds after her head hit the pillow, exhaustion, both physical and emotional, overwhelmed her and she fell into a deep, and blissfully dreamless slumber.  
  
* * * * *  
  
While Michiru Ikari was sleeping peacefully, something was moving silently through the dark, still waters at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It had lain dormant for eons at the bottom of the sea, hibernating in a protective chrysalis that none of the ocean's predators dared approach. For ages, it had simply sat there, slowly developing. Then, some time ago, it felt a compulsion, an irresistible pull toward a place it had never seen. The call accelerated the creature's growth and within a few weeks, it was ready to emerge from its protective cocoon. Now it was steadily heading toward land.  
  
The creature didn't think about the force that drew it out of the sea. Its mind wasn't designed that way. Its only thoughts were of reaching its destination; it neither wondered nor cared what it would find there. The summons that called it was more than a mental or physical instinct. It was a powerful call from a source far beyond the creature's scope of comprehension. Slowly, implacable, it rose through the cold seawater toward its destiny.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru was awakened the next morning by the smell of something burning. She traced the scent to the kitchen where she found Misato trying desperately to wave a huge plume of foul-smelling smoke away from what Michiru assumed was supposed to be breakfast. After a minute or so of unsuccessfully batting at the smoke, Misato finally gave up and dumped the smoking pan into the sink. She turned the cold water on, sending steam cascading out of the sink and causing the hot pan to hiss violently. Finally, satisfied that she had averted a disastrous fire, Misato shut off the water.   
  
Michiru couldn't stop herself from giggling at the helpless look on Misato's face when she turned around and noticed Michiru watching her. Misato grinned sheepishly.  
  
"Well I was trying to make some eggs but there seem to be a few kinks in the system." she said cheerfully. Michiru decided that she really liked this woman. Misato just seemed to be so laid back about everything, it was impossible not to feel at ease around her. "Can I tempt you with some toast?" she asked, offering Michiru a plate with several slices of toast in varying shades of darkness.  
  
Michiru smiled and politely took a piece. She was hungry enough that even burnt toast was semi-appetizing. "So what's on the agenda today?" she asked between bites.  
  
"Today's gonna be busy." Misato said, "It's your orientation at NERV Headquarters."  
  
"Orientation?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Yeah." Misato picked up a handwritten schedule from the table. "Let's see.........we have to get you security clearance, have an ID card made, then there should be time for a quick tour of the facility. Oh, I almost forgot; we have to get you fitted for uniforms, that could take a while."  
  
"Um...what exactly am I going to be doing for NERV?" Michiru asked.  
  
Misato frowned "Well that's classified, I can't say until you get security clearance. Sorry."  
  
"It's ok," Michiru said, "I was just curious."  
  
"Here." Misato handed Michiru a small booklet sealed with a thin strip of plastic that bore the message 'For your eyes only'. "You should probably read this before work today." Michiru looked at the book. 'Welcome to NERV.' was written on the cover. Michiru slid off the plastic seal and began looking through the book. Misato glanced at her watch and spoke. "Actually, you should probably get ready to go now, we have to leave soon." she said "You can read that on the way."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru took a quick shower in the small bathroom and changed into the only non-uniform outfit she owned; a light blue sun dress that she had been given for the many job interviews she had gone to in her last few months at the orphanage. She had loved the dress, mostly because it was a switch from wearing a school uniform every day. Wearing it, she had been able to pretend she was just a normal teenager, instead of an orphan. Now she couldn't imagine wearing a school uniform from the orphanage to the first day of her new life; but the sun dress seemed exactly right.  
  
* * * * *  
  
As they drove along the crowded streets of Tokyo 3, Michiru read through the book Misato had given her. According to the book, NERV was a special peacekeeping force controlled by the United Nations. NERV had branches in every major country and provided security forces and weapons research to many world governments.  
  
Michiru was so intent on the book that she almost didn't notice when Misato drove the car into a small garage. She did notice when a heavy door slammed behind them and the car began moving sideways down a long, dark tunnel. She also noticed her ears popping. In addition to moving sideways, the car was also moving down.  
  
Suddenly, they burst out of the darkness. Michiru saw that the car was actually sitting on a train whose tracks seemed to be suspended hundreds of feet in the air. Below her, Michiru saw a lush forest bordering a large lake. Michiru's first thought was that they were outside. Looking up, she realized they were actually underground. The forest lay on the floor of a gigantic cave, almost as big as the entire city of Tokyo 3. In fact, looking up at the top of the cave, Michiru saw a group of large square doors. She knew immediately what those were for. Evidently that rumor about the buildings in Tokyo 3 being lowered into the ground was true after all.  
  
"What is this?" Michiru asked.  
  
"This is the Geofront." Misato replied. "And that," she pointed to several buildings in the middle of the forest, dominated by a huge pyramid, "is where you'll be working. NERV Headquarters."  
  
Michiru was speechless. In her wildest dreams, she would never have imagined that something like this could exist. She felt like Alice, falling through a rabbit-hole into Wonderland.   
  
* * * * *  
  
The sonar operator on the American submarine Dallas was the first to notice a problem. She checked and double checked her instruments, but every time, she received the same reading. "Captain," she called out, "we have an unidentified object passing underneath us at 18 knots."  
  
"What's its heading?" the Captain asked.  
  
The young officer at the sonar station checked her screens again before replying. "Heading: 92 degrees. It's headed straight for Tokyo 3."  
  
"Do we have visual confirmation of the object?" the Captain asked.  
  
"Negative Sir. It's still too deep."  
  
The Captain seemed to take a moment to consider his options. Finally he spoke. "All right. Comm, alert the Japanese government, describe the situation and offer our assistance. Helm."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Come about to 92 degrees and follow that thing. But keep your distance. Whatever it is, we probably don't want it to know we're back here."  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru's first hour at NERV headquarters had consisted of her receiving a thorough security breifing and signing several Non-Disclosure agreements in which she promised never to release classified information to unauthorized personnel. After signing the forms, she was given a temporary security card and allowed to enter the base itself. Misato was waiting for her inside, smiling as always.  
  
"Ready for your tour?" Misato asked cheerfully.  
  
Michiru laughed. "If it'll give me a chance to stretch my legs." she replied.  
  
Misato led her through the labyrinthine halls of NERV headquarters, occasionally stopping to point out various points of interest like research labs and control centers. Michiru wasn't really very interested in the control room for, say, the climate control system, but she feigned interest for Misato's sake. In fact, all she could think about was the mysterious job that Misato had been unable to tell her before she received security access.   
  
The further Misato led her into the NERV base, the more curious Michiru became about what kind of job NERV wanted her to do. At first she had assumed that she was simply going to be some kind of secretary or research assistant, after all, she didn't have much in the way of practical experience in peacekeeping or weapons development. But then she remembered what Major Suzahara had said. This job was "potentially very dangerous" and she was the only person who could do it. She couldn't contain her curiosity anymore.  
  
"Where are we going Misato?" Misato turned around at the sound of her voice. "I've got clearance now, so please tell me. What did you bring me here to do?"  
  
Misato smiled. "Just a little further." she said, pointing to a heavy door at the end of the hallway, "It's right through there."  
  
Michiru followed Misato into a small control room overlooking a huge hangar of some kind. The floor of the chamber was flooded with a red liquid Michiru couldn't readily identify. What caught her attention and held it, however was what was in the middle of the chamber.  
  
Michiru's first impression was of a huge head sticking out of the red liquid. But not a human head. More than anything, the head looked like it belonged to a beetle or some other insect. A single horn stuck up from a large, sloping forehead. Below that, an enormous chin jutted out from a skeletal jaw. The eyes. The eyes were the only part of the head that looked human, but they didn't belong to any human being who had ever lived. These eyes reflected intelligence, but it was a cold, animalistic intellect; not the warmth or compassion of human eyes. With the exeption of the jaw and a few green highlights, the entire head was a dark, metallic purple. Michiru suddenly realized that what she had thought of as a head was actually some kind of armored helmet.  
  
"What.....was is this?" Michiru finally managed to ask.  
  
Misato put a hand on her shoulder. "This is NERVs primary weapon. Evangelion Unit 01."  
  
"Evangelion?" Michiru repeated, rolling the strange word around in her head. She remembered something Misato had said the day before about 'the family business'. "My parents....?" she asked.  
  
Misato nodded. "They were EVA pilots as well." she said. "Unit 01 here was piloted by Shinji, your father. Your mother was the pilot of EVA Unit 02."  
  
"What is it?" Michiru asked, still unable to draw her gaze away from Unit 01.  
  
"It's a synthetic life form. Part living, part machine." Misato told her. "It hasn't been used in almost twenty-five years. But we began preparing it for your arrival a few weeks ago."  
  
"Why?" was all Michiru could think to ask.  
  
"Because we suspect that we will be needing it again very soon. That is why we brought you here. We think.....We hope, you will be able to pilot it."   
  
Michiru wanted to ask more about the Evangelion, but at that moment Misato's cell phone rang. Misato unfolded the small phone and spoke into it. "Katsuragi............WHAT?............are they sure?........no don't do anything yet, I'm coming to you!" She slammed the phone shut and turned to Michiru. "We have a problem." she said, "Come with me." She grabbed Michiru's hand and practically dragged her back out into the hallway and toward the elevators.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The elevators took them to the largest room Michiru had seen yet. Most of the room was taken up by a holographic map depicting Tokyo 3 and the Geofront, along with a sizeable portion of the surrounding countryside. When the stepped off the elevator, everyone's attention was focused on a red dot that was moving steadily toward Tokyo 3.   
  
"When did it hit land?" Misato demanded.  
  
"Three minutes ago." a young officer working at a computer terminal replied, "An American submarine notified the government about an hour ago."  
  
"And we weren't told until now?" Misato yelled. A change had come over her. No longer the laid-back woman Michiru had met yesterday; Misato now looked ready to spit nails. From the way everyone in the room turned in surprise, Michiru could tell that Misato's subordinates were also not used to seeing her like this.   
  
"The UN wanted visual confirmation before they notified us." another officer said.  
  
Misato seemed to calm down a little. Her moment of rage was past, but the look on her face was still all business. "All right." she began to speak very fast, "Go to first stage alert, notify the UN forces to be on standby, start getting people evacuated to their shelters, and begin accommodation of the central block. We're going to the cage." as she spoke, technical officers all over the control area began typing furiously at various consoles. Misato evidently trusted her people to get the job done. As soon as she finished giving the orders she motioned for Michiru to follow her and headed for a small elevator across from the one they had just come from.  
  
As soon as Misato pressed the single button on the elevator's control panel, it shot downward so fast that Michiru once again felt her ears popping from the pressure change. As the elevator descended, Misato pulled out her cell phone and punched in a speed dial combination. After a second, she spoke into the phone. "Toji, begin launch preparations......." she frowned, obviously not liking Toji's response, "I know," she said, "but there's no other way. Alert Maya and Kensuke. Were coming to you."  
  
"What's going on?" Michiru asked when Misato had put the phone away.  
  
Misato turned to her, trying to decide how best to respond. "Were being attacked." she finally said, "Your going to have to pilot Unit 01 now."  
  
Michiru felt her blood turn to ice. "Pilot it?" she asked in a fearful whisper, "But Misato, I don't know how to pilot that thing!"  
  
"I know." Misato said, "And I'm sorry. I had hoped we would be able to train you first, but we've run out of time."  
  
"But how can I.......?"  
  
"Don't worry." Misato smiled reassuringly, "If were right about you, you'll know what to do once you're inside."  
  
Before Michiru could reply, the elevator hit the ground floor and the doors opened. Standing before them were Major Suzahara and two people Misato hadn't met before. One of them she recognized instantly, the thin man standing on Toji's right side. Of all the people in her picture, this man had changed the least, he still had the same light brown hair, the same skinny frame, and the same huge eyeglasses. The woman on Toji's right wasn't in her picture; yet she must have been a friend of Michiru's parents because, like the skinny man, she was staring at Michiru with the same look of wonder that Toji and Misato had given her the day before. Michiru couldn't help but blush self-consciously, she didn't think she would ever get used to this kind of attention from complete strangers.  
  
Misato stepped out of the elevator and gestured for Michiru to follow her. "Michiru Ikari," she said, "meet Captain Kensuke Aida and Dr. Maya Ibuki. They'll be getting you ready to pilot." She smiled exasperatedly. "Come on you two; snap out of it!" she said, "There'll be time for that later!"  
  
Captain Aida was the first to break his trance, followed closely by Dr. Ibuki. They rushed over to her led her toward a small locker room across from the elevator. Before she was out of earshot, she could here Misato arguing with Toji.  
  
"I just want to say again that I'm strongly opposed to this course of action, Commander." Toji said, obviously upset.  
  
"I'm no happier about this than you are." Misato replied "But what choice do we have?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Captain Aida led Michiru into a small locker room. "I'm afraid we don't have an actual entry plug suit made for you yet." he apologized. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a set of what looked like huge white hair clips. "Here." he said, "Put these on."  
  
Michiru did as she was told. The clips felt heavy on her head, and she suspected that they contained some heavy-duty electronics underneath their plastic exterior. Her guides led her out of the locker room through a different door than the one they had entered through. She would have been surprised to find herself looking up at the face of Unit 01, but the way today had been going, nothing could surprise her. The red fluid was rapidly draining out of the chamber and, looking down, Michiru saw that Unit 01 had a roughly humanoid body; though said body was encased in the same metallic purple armor as the head. The Evangelion's head was tilted down and Michiru could see where part of the armor on its back had been opened up. A large cylinder stuck out of the exposed section.  
  
Dr. Ibuki turned and spoke to her. "OK Michiru," she said, "Misato and I will be talking you through this so don't worry. You're going to do fine." She smiled reassuringly and led Michiru to a large seat hanging from a crane next to the exposed section of Unit 01. She gestured for Michiru to sit down. The seat was surprisingly comfortable. As soon as Michiru sat down, the crane began to move. It lifted the seat and set it down in the cylinder sticking out of Unit 01's back. As soon as the seat was locked in place, the crane receded and the door above her head slid shut. Michiru was plunged into darkness for a moment. Then a light came on above her and she got her first good look at Unit 01's cockpit. It certainly didn't look like any cockpit she had ever seen before. The only controls she could see were two handles in front of her. Each handle had a button on the top and a trigger underneath; but as far as Michiru could tell, there were no other controls. She would have thought a machine like the Evangelion would have much more complex controls than this.  
  
While Michiru was pondering the odd control scheme, Misato's voice rang out in the cockpit. "Can you hear me Michiru?" she asked.  
  
"Uh...yes ma'am." Michiru replied.  
  
"We're going to fill the entry plug with LCL now." Misato said. "Just stay calm and breathe normally."  
  
"Um...Alright." Michiru heard a bubbling sound beneath her. Looking down, she saw a thick, yellowish liquid slowly rising toward her. Despite Misato's instructions, Michiru found herself holding her breath out of reflex as the slimy liquid rose above her head.   
  
"Relax." Misato repeated, "Just breath normally. The LCL will provide oxygen to your blood just like air."  
  
Michiru pushed back every instinct in her body and breathed in, filling her lungs with the LCL. She fought the urge to gag as the LCL invaded her mouth. When she was seven years old, Michiru had tried to slide down a stairway on a banister like she had seen in a movie. She did make it to the bottom of the stairs, but she ended up landing on her face instead of her feet as she had intended. The force of the impact had knocked out two of her baby teeth. She would never forget the taste that followed. "Um.....Misato?" she asked, not quite sure how she could talk with her lungs full of LCL, "Is this stuff *supposed* to taste like blood?"  
  
"Well I don't know if it's supposed to." Misato replied, "But it always has. Now listen. Evangelion operates on nerve impulses. If you want the EVA to walk, just walk like you normally would. The same goes for other motions. Understand?"  
  
"I guess so." Michiru replied, not at all sure she understood.  
  
Misato must have sensed Michiru's lack of confidence. "Don't worry." she said, "You'll get used to it." Her next words were spoken to someone else in the control room. "How's she doing?"  
  
"Everything looks good." Michiru heard Dr. Ibuki reply to Misato, "I think we can activate."  
  
"Begin activation." Misato ordered. Lights lit up all around Michiru. Bands of color flashed along the walls of the entry plug in rapid succession. Suddenly the walls seemed to open up and Michiru could see the hangar that housed Unit 01. At the same time, the LCL lost its yellow tint and became clear like water. Michiru could see that the chamber had been completely emptied of the mysterious red liquid and the restraints that had been holding the Evangelion in place had been removed. Across from her, she could see Misato and Dr. Ibuki in the control room.  
  
Without warning, Michiru's body began to feel numb, but not in a bad way. She felt warm and relaxed, like she was taking a hot bath. She heard Dr. Ibuki speak again. "Amazing...." she said. "Synch Ratio 33.75%. Nerve pulses appear normal. Signal Graph looks good. Pilot life signs are all in the green. We're ready to launch."  
  
"Michiru." Misato addressed her. "That thing out there is what we call an Angel. You can't let it invade the Geofront. We're going to send you a rifle once we launch Unit 01. I'll tell you what to do after that. Are you ready?"  
  
"As ready as I'm ever going to be." Michiru replied, trying not to let Misato see how scared she was.  
  
Misato nodded. "Move Unit 01 to the launch pad." she ordered. Michiru felt a jolt as Unit 01 began to move backwards. She twisted around in her seat, trying to see where she was going, but the back of the seat blocked her view. The EVA shook again and came to a sudden stop. Looking up, Michiru saw a series of doors opening above her, revealing a long tunnel leading up so far, she couldn't see where it ended.  
  
"Unit 01 is in position." Dr. Ibuki said, "The launch tube is clear."  
  
"Good luck kid." Misato whispered so that only Michiru heard her. Then, in a loud, commanding voice, she gave the order.   
  
"Launch EVA!"  
  
To Be Continued......... 


	2. Michiru's Victory

Legal Stuff: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of the characters created for that series. They belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno and I *will* put them back when I'm done with them. I do, however, own all of the original characters I created specifically for this series.  
* * * * *  
Dedication: To all of my friends in the Lakeland Gumi. "For Great Justice!!"  
* * * * *  
Author's note: Remember that violence I talked about last time? This chapter contains a small taste of that violent content. A word of warning to the squeamish: it only gets worse from here on in. Ok, let's get this show on the road!  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:2- Michiru's Victory/"Who is she?"  
  
  
"Unit 01 is in position." Dr. Ibuki said, "The launch tube is clear."  
  
"Good luck kid." Misato whispered so that only Michiru heard her. Then, in a loud, commanding voice, she gave the order.   
  
"Launch EVA!"  
  
Michiru felt an invisible hand pushing her down into the seat as the Evangelion shot upward through the launch tube. The farther up she went, the faster the EVA seemed to move. Within seconds, Michiru saw a pinpoint of light far above her. The light grew rapidly as the EVA began to move faster and faster through the tunnel.   
  
Suddenly, the EVA burst out of the launch tunnel into sunlight. Michiru squinted, then blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her eyes to the light. When she could see again, she looked around and found herself back in Tokyo 3. But the city looked different. Almost all of the major buildings were gone, apparently retracted into the Geofront. Only one or two skyscrapers were left erect, most of which bore variations on the 'Emergency Re-supply Station' message she had seen yesterday. The few buildings that were left were smaller apartments and offices on the outer edges of the city. With the skyscrapers out of sight and the streets deserted, Tokyo 3 looked like a ghost town that had been abandoned before it was completely built.   
  
A holographic screen popped up in front of Michiru, revealing Misato's concerned face.   
  
"How are you doing, Michiru?" she asked.  
  
"I'm all right, I guess." Michiru replied.  
  
Misato smiled. "We're sending your rifle now." She said. Michiru looked to her left and saw one of the remaining buildings open up, revealing a large rifle. "Release final safety locks." Misato ordered. Michiru felt Unit 01 lean forward slightly as the clamps holding the EVA to the launch pad were released. "All right Michiru." Misato said, "You have a few minutes until the Angel arrives. For now, just try walking and holding the rifle."  
  
Michiru nodded. She concentrated as hard as she could on moving her left leg forward. But no matter how hard she tried; she couldn't seem to make Unit 01 respond.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In the control room, Misato saw Unit 01 standing completely still. She saw the strained look on Michiru's face through the video link to Unit 01's entry plug. She turned to Maya, who was monitoring Michiru's medical condition.  
  
"What's wrong?" Misato asked.  
  
"Heart rate's erratic, but that's to be expected." The younger woman replied, "Poor thing... she must be scared half to death. The real problem is her brain waves." She pointed to an EEG readout showing Michiru's brain activity. "She's concentrating too hard."  
  
"Michiru." Misato said, "You're thinking about it too much. Just walk like you normally would. The EVA will take care of the rest."  
  
Michiru nodded. "I'll try." She said.  
  
Misato felt sick to her stomach and disgusted with herself. It was true that she didn't have any other choice. There was no one else who even had a chance at synchronizing with Unit 01. But she still felt awful sending Michiru to fight an Angel with no training. She thought back to that day, twenty-five years ago. The day Shinji had been forced to pilot Unit 01 for the first time. That time, it had been Shinji's father, Commander Ikari, who had given the order to send his own son into battle. But this time it was her call, her order. And God help her; she did the exact same thing.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru took a deep breath; or would have, if her lungs hadn't been full of LCL. She tried her hardest to relax. Then, closing her eyes, she cleared her mind as best she could and stepped off of the launch platform.   
  
"That's it!" she heard Misato call out. Opening her eyes and looking down, Michiru saw that Unit 01 had taken a single step forward. Feeling daring, Michiru took another step forward and Unit 01 responded, stepping completely off of the platform. The EVA stumbled slightly when she tried to turn around to get her rifle, but she quickly regained her balance. After that, reaching out and taking the rifle from its moorings was easy. Michiru was a little surprised to actually feel the rifle in her hands as Unit 01 picked it up. Now that she thought about it, the pavement felt hot under her feet as well. For some reason, being able to feel what Unit 01 was feeling disturbed Michiru. She was about to ask Misato about it, but suddenly she felt a slight tremor in the ground. Normally she probably wouldn't have felt it, but Unit 01's enhanced senses picked it up and relayed it to her. She felt the ground shiver again. And again.  
  
"Misato..." she said, "I think it's here."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"AT Field!" Toji yelled, staring at the tactical map, where the red spot approaching the Geofront had just turned blue. "Pattern Blue! Approaching from the east!"  
  
"Visual contact?" Misato asked.  
  
"Negative, Commander." Toji replied. "The UN forces have not engaged the Angel. They're keeping their distance."  
  
"It's just as well." Misato said, "They'd only get in the way. Although I wish we could see what we were up against."  
  
"It should be within range in two minutes." Toji said, "Should we engage defense systems?"  
  
Misato considered this for a moment. The city's defense systems probably wouldn't even scratch the Angel. On the other hand they might slow it down enough to give Michiru more time to prepare herself. That thought made her decision for her. She nodded. "Engage defense systems."  
  
In response to Misato's order, officers all around the control room began to type instructions into various terminals. Within seconds, gun turrets and missile launchers hidden throughout Tokyo 3 sprang to life, ready to fire as soon as the Angel came within range. Misato turned to speak to Michiru through their video link. "Michiru," she said, "the Angel will be here in a few minutes. As soon as you see it, take aim with your rifle. A targeting reticle will appear. Position the Angel in the center of the reticle and press the trigger switch on the right handle in front of you. Understand?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru smiled, hoping that doing so would somehow make her appear braver than she felt. "I'll do my best." she said. The last thing Michiru wanted was for Misato to see how terrified she was.  
  
Michiru felt her heart skip a beat when machine gun fire rang out across the deserted city. As the shockwaves underneath her feet increased in intensity, the sounds of explosions and gunfire got closer and closer. Michiru squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears, trying to block out the sounds of the Angel's approach. Suddenly, the noises ceased and silence settled over the city once again. Michiru slowly opened her eyes... and found herself face to face with a monster.  
  
At first, Michiru couldn't move. She simply stood there, mesmerized by the pure horror of the thing in front of her. The Angel was huge, easily as tall as the Evangelion, perhaps even taller. Although its shape was vaguely humanoid, the resemblance ended there. The Angel was entirely covered in some kind of rigid exoskeleton, like an insect or crustacean. It had no head, only a single, huge eye set into its chest, between the shoulders. Just below the eye, a large, glowing orb seemed to grow out of the thing's body. Instead of hands, the Angel had two huge claws like those of a crab. The claw on its left arm was a short, thick, club-like appendage that looked extremely strong. The Angel's right claw was longer and thinner, with a wickedly sharp tip. The Angel stood still for a moment, staring at Unit 01. It seemed almost puzzled by the creature standing before it. Evidently it decided that the EVA posed no immediate threat, because seconds later it began moving again, striding purposefully toward Michiru.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" Misato's voice snapped Michiru out of her paralysis. "Take aim!" Michiru didn't need to be told twice. She snapped the rifle up into firing position. Immediately, a small white triangle appeared, floating in front of her face. She manipulated the rifle until the triangle rested directly over the Angel's one eye. She let the Angel take a few more steps forward, just to be sure it was in range, and then held down the trigger switch, emptying the entire gun in one shot.   
  
The shot was perfect. Hundreds of high-speed bullets flew out from the rifle and ripped into the Angel. Or they would have. Within a few feet of the Angel, the bullets seemed to hit an invisible barrier. A network of shimmering, concentric octagons appeared in front of the Angel. Michiru's bullets ricocheted off of the mysterious force field. The only effect Michiru's well-placed shot seemed to have was letting the Angel know she was there... and pissing it off.  
  
Raising its claws over its head the Angel let out a terrifying, high-pitched scream of rage. It charged toward Unit 01 and Michiru. As it ran toward her, the Angel raised its left arm, intending to crush Unit 01's head in its massive claw. Instinctively, Michiru threw her arms up to cover her face, expecting at any moment to feel the impact of the Angel's claw. But the impact never came.   
  
Lowering her arms, Michiru saw a series of glowing octagons in front of her, just like when she had tried to shoot the Angel. But this time, the shield, or whatever it was, was protecting her. The Angel was straining with all its might, trying to force its huge claw through the field.   
  
* * * * *  
  
Kensuke stared in awe at the screen in front of him. "Unit 01 has expanded its own AT Field!" he called out. "The Fields are echoing. They're neutralizing the phase space!"  
  
"Michiru!" Misato yelled, "That AT Field won't hold for long! Get out of the way!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Even as Michiru heard Misato speaking, she saw the ordinarily uniform lines of the AT Field start to waver. The Angel was beginning to push through the Field. She threw herself to the side just in time, as the AT Field collapsed. The Angel missed Unit 01's head, but managed to grab hold of her rifle, snapping the gun in half like a matchstick. Michiru didn't have time to worry about the rifle, however. Her hasty dodge had thrown her off balance and she was trying desperately to keep Unit 01 standing, on the assumption that if she fell down, she wouldn't have a chance to get back up.   
  
Michiru swung her arms wildly, which must have looked strange to the people watching Unit 01 from the control room, not that she cared. She took three huge steps forward, trying to regain her balance. The maneuver worked and Unit 01 stayed on its feet. Unfortunately, the EVA's back was now completely exposed. Too late, Michiru realized her error and spun around just as the Angel's claw smashed into Unit 01's face.   
  
Unit 01 was thrown backwards by the Angel's punch. It flew hundreds of feet through the air and landed on its back in the middle of a residential area, crushing almost a dozen buildings under its massive weight. Michiru didn't notice any of this, however. She was too preoccupied with the sudden pain in her left eye where the Angel had hit Unit 01. It felt as if she, not the Evangelion, had been hit. Michiru squeezed he left eye closed and gritted her teeth against the pain. She could feel the ground shaking as the Angel approached. She had to get back up, and quickly.   
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato watched in horror as the Angel slammed its huge, blunt claw into Unit 01's left eye. The damage to the EVA was, no doubt, negligible, but she heard Michiru cry out as she felt Unit 01's pain. Misato felt a pang of sympathy for the girl; Michiru was learning the downside of the Evangelion's control system the hard way.   
  
Misato reopened her link to Unit 01's entry plug. Michiru seemed all right, though her left eye was squeezed tightly shut. Misato felt the need to explain what had just happened; even though she was sure Michiru had already figured it out. "Michiru," she said, "the pain your feeling is from..."  
  
"Let me guess." Michiru interrupted her, "That nerve connection thing runs both ways doesn't it? Listen, I lost the rifle. What do I do now?" Michiru was trying to play it cool, but the fear in her voice was unmistakable.   
  
Kensuke opened his own link to the entry plug. "Use your progressive knife." he said. "Press the top button on the left handle."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru had gotten to her feet and was now facing the approaching Angel. She pressed the button Kensuke had told her about. Immediately the armor plate on Unit 01's left shoulder slid open and a large handle popped out. Michiru reached up and grabbed the handle, expecting to pull out a knife. Instead she pulled out a handle. The Angel was dangerously close now. It was getting ready to strike again. "Uh... Captain Aida..." Michiru said in a panicked voice, "I think I broke it."  
  
"Calm down." he replied, "press the button on the knife."  
  
For the first time, Michiru noticed a button set into the handle. Moving Unit 01's fingers turned out to be more difficult than she would have expected but she managed to press the button. A sturdy-looking blade slid out of the handle just as the Angel grabbed Unit 01's left shoulder in its big claw and began to apply pressure.  
  
Michiru cried out involuntarily and nearly dropped the knife. She felt as if the bones in her shoulder were being crushed. Her vision blurred as tears formed in her eyes from the pain. She did the only thing she could think of. She put all her strength into a desperate swing at the arm that held her. The ultra-sharp blade sliced through the Angel's carapace, nearly severing its arm in a single stroke. Immediately, the pressure Michiru felt on her shoulder released. The Angel pulled violently away from Unit 01. A thick, blue liquid that Michiru assumed was the Angel's blood poured from the partially severed limb, spilling on Unit 01. The Angel's scream of anger and pain was deafening.   
  
Michiru felt a rush of pride at having scored a massive blow against her opponent. However, the Angel didn't stay out of commission for long. It raised its long, sharp claw and rushed at Unit 01, apparently trying to run the EVA through.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In the control room, Misato saw Michiru slice through the Angel's arm with the progressive knife. The Angel let go of Unit 01 and reared back, spraying its thick, blue blood all over the EVA. A collective murmur of awe ran through the control room.   
  
"Amazing..." someone whispered.  
  
"She's a natural." Kensuke said.   
  
"Well..." Maya replied, "Considering whose daughter she is..."  
  
Misato was glad Michiru was all right. However, the Angel was already preparing to attack Unit 01 again. "Hold your applause people." she said grimly, "That thing's not dead yet."  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru saw the Angel right itself and rush toward her, preparing to stab Unit 01 with its remaining claw. She wasn't about to let that happen. She dove to the side as it ran past her. But the Angel wasn't going to be fooled by that trick twice. It twisted its body around as it passed Unit 01 and managed to deliver a quick stab to the EVA's leg. The force of the impact and the sudden pain that shot through her leg made Michiru stumble, tripping over her own feet. Unit 01 went down hard, reducing another building to rubble.   
  
Looking up Michiru saw the Angel looming over her, its claw poised to deliver the killing blow. In the confusion of crashing through the building, she had dropped her progressive knife. With no way to defend herself, Michiru's only hope was to evade the Angel's attack. As the Angel brought its claw down, she rolled to the left. The Angel's claw smashed into the ground where Unit 01's head had just been. Before the Angel could attack again, Michiru swung her good leg at it with all her might. The kick connected, sweeping the Angel's feet out from under it. The ground shook as the Angel toppled forward, demolishing what was left of the building Unit 01 had fallen onto.   
  
As the Angel struggled to disentangle itself from the wreckage it had fallen into, Michiru leaped to her feet, wincing at the pain in her injured leg. Looking down, she saw a slow trickle of crimson blood leaking out of a hole in Unit 01's armor and running down its leg. But Michiru didn't have time to worry about that, she had to arm herself, and quickly. Michiru cast a look around, searching desperately for anything she could use as a weapon. "Um Captain Aida?" she asked, "Does this thing have any more knives hidden up its sleeves?"  
  
"Go back to where you got the rifle." Captain Aida replied. "I'll see what we can do."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Do we have any more guns?" Kensuke asked the nearest tech officer.  
  
"None that we can send out there fast enough." The young man responded. "The best thing we can get to her on time is the battle axe."  
  
"Send it." Kensuke ordered. "Now!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru rushed back to the supply building where she had been given her first rifle. She had been hoping for a new knife, or even better, another rifle. Her face fell when the building slid open revealing a large axe. "What the hell is this?" she demanded.  
  
"It's the best we can give you." Captain Aida replied. "It may not look like much, but it'll get the job done."  
  
Michiru grabbed the axe and turned back to find that the Angel had freed itself from the collapsed building. The creature was back on its feet, looking directly at Michiru with animalistic fury burning in its lone eye. The wound Michiru had given the Angel had completely stopped bleeding. In fact, the arm seemed to be regenerating. The Angel was healing itself right before her eyes!  
  
"Michiru." Misato's face appeared before her. "The only way you can kill that Angel is to destroy its power source. Go for the Core! Beneath its eye!"  
  
Michiru brandished the heavy axe in what she hoped was a good fighting stance. She had never fought with an axe before, and the weapon felt awkward in her hands. The Angel let out a deafening roar and charged toward her. Michiru raised the axe over her head, ready to cleave the Angel in two as soon as it came close enough. Unfortunately, she underestimated the Angel's speed. Before she could even begin to bring the axe down, the Angel slammed into Unit 01 like a ton of bricks. Or, more accurately, like several dozen tons of bricks. The Angel fell on top of Unit 01, pinning the EVA beneath it.  
  
Michiru struggled with all her might to push the Angel off of her, but to no avail. The Angel was too strong and too heavy. She couldn't get out from under it. Once again, the Angel raised its long, sharp claw. Unless she did something soon, it would drive the claw straight through Unit 01, and that would be the end of her. Michiru tried swinging the axe at her attacker, but she couldn't get sufficient power behind the swing from this angle. The axe's blade bounced harmlessly off of the Angel's armored exoskeleton. In desperation, Michiru took the only option left open to her; she reached up and grabbed the Angel's partially severed left arm. With a quick twist, Michiru ripped what was left of the Angel's arm completely off.   
  
That got the desired effect. A fresh stream of blood poured from the wound. The Angel reared back, screaming in fury and agony. Michiru wasted no time in planting Unit 01's feet on the Angel's chest and kicking it away as hard as she could. The Angel went flying. It landed flat on its back and lay still, blood leaking from its severed arm to form a sickly blue puddle beneath it.   
  
"Finish it off!" Toji yelled into the video link, "Before it gets back up!"  
  
Michiru jumped up and rushed to where the Angel had fallen, raising the axe as she ran. The Angel saw Unit 01 coming for it and tried to get up; but it had been mortally wounded, and blood loss had made it sluggish. The Angel made one last feeble attempt to stab Unit 01 with its remaining claw, but it lacked the strength to even pierce the Evangelion's armor. Michiru raised the axe high above her head and brought it down with every ounce of strength she could muster. The blade bit deeply into the Angel's exposed core, cutting the glowing sphere nearly in half. Sparks flew from the shattered core for several seconds before the orb lost its glow and the Angel's body went limp.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"She did it!" A collective cheer erupted through the control room as the blue dot on the tactical map winked out. All around the room people hugged, shook hands, and slapped each other on the back.   
  
Misato breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed into her chair. "You did it Michiru." She said. "You beat it."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru stood over the dead Angel, looking down at her handiwork. She knew she should feel proud of her victory. But all she felt was relief that she was still alive. The thought that she might have died here today hit her as she stared at the Angel's corpse. The fear that she had pushed to the back of her mind flooded over her. All the tension in her let loose at once and she suddenly found herself crying, her tears dissolving in the LCL surrounding her.   
  
She was still crying quietly as she rode the EVA lift back to NERV headquarters.  
  
* * * * *  
When the EVA was locked in place and the LCL had been drained out, the hatch above Michiru slid open and a crane lifted her seat out of the entry plug. Michiru felt she must look like a drowned rat; soaked from head to toe in LCL, coughing violently to remove the disgusting stuff from her lungs, her eyes red from crying. At least the pain in her shoulder, leg, and eye had disappeared completely the moment Unit 01 was deactivated.   
  
Michiru saw Misato running toward her. Michiru climbed clumsily out of her seat, her limbs still asleep from connecting with the EVA. Misato handed her a large towel, which she gratefully accepted. She wiped most of the LCL off her face, but she couldn't seem to get the slimy stuff out of her hair. And she feared the worst for her sun dress.   
  
For a while, the two women simply stood in silence. Then, on a compulsion, Michiru crossed the space between them and threw her arms around Misato, desperate for any kind of human contact after her ordeal. Before she knew it, she was crying again.   
  
Misato simply held her and let her cry for several minutes. When she was finished, Michiru looked up at Misato. "Thank you." She said.  
  
Misato smiled, "You did great out there." She said.  
  
"I couldn't have done it without all of you helping me." Michiru said.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru was grateful for the chance to take a shower in the locker room adjacent to the launch bay. It took three cycles of lather-rinse-repeat to clean all of the LCL out of her hair. Michiru wondered just what the disgusting goo really was, but decided that, given its 'unique' flavor, maybe she didn't really want to know. Stepping out of the small shower, she found a NERV uniform had been set out for her. The uniform consisted of a pair of white pants and a beige shirt that seemed to flow into a sort of skirt. The uniform was *almost* the right size, but a little tight in the shoulders.   
  
Misato was waiting for her in the hallway. She smiled when she saw Michiru in the NERV Uniform. "We sent your dress to the cleaners." She said. "Did I guess the size right?"  
  
"It's all right." Michiru said. "But I'm pretty sure that dress is ruined."  
  
"Nah." Misato smiled, "It'll wash out, don't worry."  
  
Michiru smiled. "So what now?" she asked.  
  
"Oh. Now comes the fun part." Misato rolled her eyes, "We get to participate in an hour long debriefing."  
  
"Sounds like fun."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The debriefing was, in fact, not fun at all. Something about going over her life-and-death battle in precise, sterile, military terminology bothered Michiru. Nevertheless, Michiru tried to be helpful; answering all the questions she was asked as accurately as she could. However, when the debriefing passed Misato's promised hour and dragged halfway through its second, she began to feel restless. Michiru was glad to see that Misato looked as bored as she was.   
Mercifully, the debriefing finally ended and Michiru was released from her torment. Misato seemed just as happy to be done with the briefing as Michiru was.   
  
"Sorry that took so long." Misato said once they were out of the briefing room. "Most of the crew here is brand new. They've never seen an actual combat situation before. I think they were just trying to impress me in there. It probably won't be so bad next time."   
  
"Next time?" Michiru stopped dead in her tracks. It had never even occurred to her that she might have to repeat today's battle. "Misato?" she asked, "How many of those things are there?"  
  
Misato turned to face Michiru, a pained expression on her face. "We...... don't really know." She said, "We used to think there were only seventeen but...... then the eighteenth attacked. The one you fought today was the nineteenth."   
  
Michiru sensed that Misato was holding something back. There was a note of hesitation in her voice when she spoke about the eighteenth Angel. She was sure Misato wasn't telling her the whole story. She chose not to press the issue, however. She trusted Misato to tell her if it was really important. "So how long until the next one shows up?" she asked.  
  
"It's hard to say." Misato replied, "Could be days, could be weeks. But we should be able to give you some more training before the next Angel attacks. So....." she said, "Not a bad first day huh?"  
  
Michiru was happy to let Misato change the subject. She didn't want to think about fighting again. At least, not today. She smiled. "Well," she said, "I certainly won't be bored working here."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Several hours later most of the day crew had left for home. In their place, the minimal night staff kept NERV running, while the custodial staff prepared the building for the next day shift.   
  
Toji Suzahara stood in the small control room overlooking cage seven, where Unit 01 was undergoing maintenance to repair the damage inflicted upon it in the recent battle. Staring at the giant being, Toji decided that the Evangelion was definitely one of the ugliest things he had ever seen. Unit 01's helmet had been removed to ensure that the punch it had received from the Angel's claw had not inflicted any permanent damage. Fortunately, there was only minor bruising around the eye; bruising that was already beginning to fade thanks to the EVA's rapid healing. Seeing Unit 01 with a black eye might have been somewhat amusing, if the thing hadn't been so damn hideous.  
  
"Admiring the patient, major?" Toji turned to see his best friend, Kensuke Aida standing in the doorway. Kensuke crossed the room and handed Toji a cup of coffee, still steaming.  
  
Toji took a sip and grimaced. "Is this coffee, or motor oil?" he asked.  
  
"Well." Kensuke said, "Someone's in a bad mood tonight."  
  
Toji sighed. "I guess I'm still just a little on edge from earlier."  
  
"I see." Kensuke nodded. "Feel like talking about it?"  
  
"Oh. You know. Same old story." Toji replied. "You know how I feel about this thing." He indicated the EVA, which was having its helmet bolted back on.  
  
"Yeah, I know." Kensuke said. "But I'm guessing this is less about Unit 01 and more about its new pilot. Would I be correct in that assumption?"  
  
"It's nothing I haven't said a thousand times before." Toji sighed. "I seriously doubt that this is what Shinji and Asuka would have wanted for their daughter."  
  
"I know." Kensuke said. "But its like Misato said. We really don't have any other options."  
  
Toji nodded grimly. He knew what Kensuke said was true. But that didn't make him feel any better about it.  
  
"Speaking of daughters;" Kensuke said, "don't you have one of your own to go home to."  
  
Toji laughed softly. "Changing the subject I see." He said.  
  
"I'm serious." Kensuke said. "We have everything here taken care of. Your shift ended over an hour ago. What are you still doing here? You're certainly not admiring the scenery." He gestured at the cage, where Unit 01 was being locked in place.  
  
Toji sighed again. "Well Machiko is staying at a friend's house tonight, so...I don't really want to......"  
  
"Oh no." Kensuke groaned. "Toji. It's been ten years. You have to move on buddy."  
  
"It's been *nine* years. Ten this December. And I am moving on." Toji assured him. "I'd just rather be here doing something useful than moping around the house alone. Look, they're running a test program through the Magi for the...you know..."  
  
"Yeah." Kensuke said.  
  
"Yeah; they're doing a dry run on the power supply tonight. So I think I'll just go supervise over there."  
  
* * * * *  
  
That night, Michiru once again experienced the dream that had kept her awake for weeks before she left the orphanage. The giant beasts were the same, but this time she was not afraid, was not jarred from her slumber. Because now there was a new figure in her dream. A towering warrior in regal purple armor, keeping her safe.   
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru sat dejectedly on the steps leading up to Misato's apartment building, trying to think of what she was going to say to Misato. She knew things had been going too well ever since she arrived in Tokyo 3. Even her battle yesterday had gone well, in that she had beaten the Angel without dying or suffering permanent injury. All in all, Michiru had started to feel pretty good about this new chapter in her life. Now she just felt lost. She fervently hoped that Misato would be able to advise her. Surely Misato would know what to do.  
  
"Michiru?" Michiru had been so lost in thought, she hadn't seen Misato approaching. She leapt to her feet and met Misato halfway up the steps. "What are you doing here?" Misato asked. "I thought you were moving into your apartment today. Actually I just stopped by on my way over there to help you out."  
  
Michiru looked down, suddenly very interested in her shoes. Why was she so ashamed to tell Misato? *It's not like it's my fault or anything*, she thought. "Uh...yeah." she said, "About my apartment."  
  
"Its still not ready?" Misato asked.  
  
"Um...not exactly." Michiru mumbled.  
  
"What's wrong with it?"  
  
Michiru figured she might as well fess up and get it over with. "Well," she said, "yesterday...I kind of, sort of...fell......on top of it. It won't be ready for a *long* time. If ever. I was wondering if, maybe I could stay here a little while. Just until I find another apartment......"  
  
"Michiru," Misato interrupted, "You can stay here as long as you want to. Don't worry."  
  
"Are you sure?" Michiru asked, "I mean it won't be a problem for you?"  
  
Misato smiled. "Of course not. Actually I've enjoyed having you around the past few days. It sure beats living alone."  
  
"Well all right." Michiru said. "But I'm helping out with rent. I'm not going to be some kind of freeloader."  
  
"Fair enough." Misato replied. "Now come on. I've got a surprise for you."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"College?!" Michiru could hardly believe what she was hearing. "I'm going to college?"  
  
"That's right." Misato said, sitting down across the kitchen table from Michiru. She popped open a can of beer and took a long swig before continuing. "I sent your academic records to Tokyo University, and they were *very* impressed. You've been admitted for the fall term."  
  
"But what about tuition money?" Michiru asked. She certainly couldn't afford to pay for college. Unless her parents had left some massive inheritance that Michiru just didn't know about, there was no way she would actually be able to attend Tokyo University. Even if she had been accepted.  
  
"It's all taken care of." Misato assured her. "NERV has a scholarship fund for young officers, especially EVA pilots." Michiru's face perked up. It seemed there were advantages to risking her life in Unit 01 after all. College was one of the many things Michiru had always wanted to experience, but had simply assumed she never would. Now here was Misato, practically handing her dream to her. Not for the first time, Michiru wondered why Misato was so bent on helping her. "So I take it you want to go?" Misato asked.  
  
"Of course." Was all Michiru could say.   
  
"Great!" Misato smiled. "Now classes start the day after tomorrow, so I guess we'd better start getting you ready quick."  
* * * * *  
  
The conference room, such as it was, was completely black. Only the dimmest of lights shone in the room, and their meager glow failed to illuminate the dark corners of the chamber. *Not that the light matters* the room's lone occupant reflected bitterly. As always, his "companions" chose not to reveal their faces. Each member of the council was instead represented by a large black monolith bearing the message "Sound Only" and a number identifying which member each holographic image stood for.  
  
Of course, the only actual person in the room wasn't showing his true face either. Wherever the others were, they saw him as nothing more than a black monolith also. It was just as well. If the newer members of the council could truly look upon their leader, they might not like what they saw.   
  
Chairman Keele was old. His skin was a sickly gray color and hung loose on his face. What hair he had left was white with age. He should have succumbed to old age years earlier. He owed his continued existence to the hundreds of machines and cybernetic components throughout his body, some even extending outside his skin, like the visor permanently attached to his eyes. Keele was rather grateful that his "partners" couldn't seem him today, or they might have taken offense at the look of disgust on his face. In the almost two decades since they had last met, SEELE seemed to have degenerated into a bunch of squabbling children.  
  
--IT IS CONFIRMED THEN? THE CREATURE WAS AN ANGEL?--  
  
--YES. THE NINETEENTH ANGEL. SLIGHTLY BEHIND SCHEDULE, WAS IT NOT?--  
  
--HOW WILL THIS EFFECT OUR PLAN?--  
  
"The effect of the Angel itself is negligible." Keele finally entered the discussion. "The issue at hand is the pilot."  
  
--CORRECT.--  
  
--ALL POTENTIAL PILOTS FOR UNIT 01 WERE TO HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE SCENARIO. YOU ASSURED US THIS WOULD BE DONE!--  
  
"The arrival of the pilot was an unforeseen factor." Keele said. "Steps had been taken to assure that she had no contact with NERV or EVA. Apparently, we underestimated Katsuragi's determination."  
  
--THEN THIS PILOT?--  
  
--IS SHE REALLY.....?--  
  
"Yes. She is. Born of the Second Child. Sired by the Third. Gendo Ikari's granddaughter. The Sixth Child."  
  
--THE GIRL WILL INTERFERE WITH OUR TIMETABLE!--  
  
--SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED ALONG WITH HER PARENTS!--  
  
--REMOVING HER FROM TOKYO 3 DID NOT REMEDY THE SITUATION AS YOU SAID IT WOULD. NOW OUR PLANS ARE FOR NAUGHT.--  
  
"Don't be so melodramatic!" Keele snapped. "The Sixth Child was lucky this time. The Angel was weak. She will not fare so well against the next one."  
  
--AND IF YOU ARE WRONG?--  
  
"If I am wrong, we can still deal with the situation ourselves. But I would prefer to let the next Angel solve our problem for us, as I am confident it will."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The next day, Michiru found herself on the sprawling Tokyo 3 campus of Tokyo University. Her first day of college was turning out to be a bit overwhelming. Her entire life, Michiru had never taken a class at school with more than thirty people in it. Now she found herself in classes with literally hundreds of other students.   
  
Michiru's classes weren't hard; in fact, most of the material was fairly straightforward. Michiru had always done well in school and college didn't seem like it was going to be any more difficult than high school had been. What really made Michiru feel overwhelmed were her fellow students.   
  
First of all, Michiru knew she stuck out like a sore thumb. Tokyo University did not require students to wear uniforms. Unfortunately, with the more pressing concerns of registering for class, buying books, and setting up her scholarship; not to mention her responsibilities at NERV, she had not had time to go shopping for clothes. She had gotten rid of all her school uniforms from the orphanage. Her blue dress was still at the cleaners having LCL scrubbed out of it. That left her with only two options; wear a NERV uniform, or borrow something from Misato.  
  
Michiru tugged uncomfortably at the neck of her uniform. It wasn't that Michiru didn't like Misato's clothes. Misato actually had pretty good fashion sense for a member of the 'Second Impact' generation. Michiru just hadn't felt comfortable with the idea of borrowing clothes from someone she hadn't even known for a whole week yet. Now, however, she wished that she had had the guts to ask Misato anyway. In a sea of casual clothes, nothing could have been more conspicuous than her NERV uniform. Everyone seemed to be looking at her, especially members of the opposite sex.  
  
Michiru never really felt comfortable around boys. The classes at the orphanage had been separated by gender just like the dormitories. The only times she had really been around boys were meal times and special occasions. Her limited contact had not left her with a favorable impression of the male gender. Basically, all boys seemed to fall into one of three categories: jerks, wimps, and perverts. And Michiru wasn't interested in members of any of the three. Sadly, Tokyo University seemed to be overflowing with members of the third group. After less than a day on campus, Michiru was already sick and tired of being hit on.  
  
Michiru was sitting on an empty bench, checking her class schedule to see where to go next when a shadow fell across the page. Michiru sighed, bracing herself for another round of come-ons and pickup lines. However, when she looked up she saw a girl about her age looking down at her. The girl was clearly not Japanese. She had blonde hair and fair, almost pale, skin. If Michiru had to guess, she would place the girl as being from England or America. Michiru's suspicion was confirmed when the girl spoke to her.   
  
"Do you.....speaking English?" she asked in very broken, heavily accented Japanese.  
  
Michiru smiled. "Yes." She replied in English.  
  
"Oh thank God!" The girl sat down next to Michiru. Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out a map of the campus. "Can you tell me what this says please?" she asked, pointing to a label written on the map.  
  
"That's the Humanities building." Michiru said. "I'm heading over there myself in a minute if you want to tag along."  
  
The girl smiled and nodded. "Yeah." She said. "That sounds good. I'm Claire, by the way. Claire Bradley."  
  
"Michiru Ikari." Michiru introduced herself.  
  
"Nice to meet you Michiru." Claire said. "So...uh..... are you, like, in the army or.......?"  
  
"Oh." Michiru tugged at her uniform self-consciously. "It's a long story."  
  
"Okay." Claire said with an amused laugh. "So what's your class?"  
  
"My class?"  
  
"Yeah." Claire said. "In the Humanities building. What class are you going to?"  
  
"Oh." Michiru said. "Elementary English actually."  
  
"You're kidding?" Claire exclaimed. "That's my class! Well this is great!"  
  
"Yeah." Michiru agreed. "But why are you taking English? I mean, from where I'm sitting you seem to have a pretty good grasp of the language."  
  
Claire smiled. "Well I figured I should take at least one class where I spoke the language."  
  
Michiru laughed. "How long have you been in Japan?" she asked.  
  
"Two weeks." Claire replied. "My parents decided it would be a 'good experience' for me to study over here for a year, completely ignoring the fact that I barely speak a word of Japanese. They're getting a divorce; so basically I think they just wanted me as far away from California and their endless legal proceedings as possible."  
  
"Oh. I'm...uh...sorry." Michiru said, not quite sure how to react.  
  
Claire smiled. "Don't be." She said. "I'm not. It's about time they got it over with. I don't know why they let their 'marriage' drag on as long as they did. Anyway, enough about my screwed-up family. What about you? Your parents I mean."  
  
Michiru looked down at her feet. "I...don't really know." She said. "I never knew them."  
  
"Oh." Claire was silent for a moment. "Sorry."  
  
"It's not your fault." Michiru said. She smiled. "They died in an earthquake that I'm fairly certain you had nothing to do with." She glanced at her watch. "We'd better get going." She said.   
  
"Yeah." Claire said with a laugh. "I don't want to be late to the only class I have a chance of passing."  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey Tai!" A voice called out across the lecture hall from the open door, causing every head in the room to turn. Every head, that is, except the one to whom the message had been directed. The speaker, a tall, athletic young man moved into the room and approached his oblivious friend before trying again. "Hey Tai!" Again there was no response. Frowning, the young man stood right behind his friend and yelled into his ear. "TAI MATSUMOTO! ARE YOU THERE MR. MATSUMOTO?"  
  
The young man named Tai jumped slightly and turned around to see his best friend staring at him. "Oh; hi Akira." he said quietly.  
  
Akira Takaeda shook his head in mock disgust. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, Matsumoto. It's like you're in your own little world sometimes. What goes on in there?"  
  
"Nothing important." Tai said. "I'm just a little tired."  
  
"From what?" Akira said, almost laughing out loud. "I can't really picture you out partying all night. No offense but you lead pretty much the most boring life of anyone I know."  
  
"I was just getting ready for classes to start today." Tai replied.  
  
"Ah now *that's* the Tai I remember." Akira said. "Studying before classes even start. I'll bet you spent the entire summer studying didn't you?"  
  
Tai looked away, embarrassed to admit that he had, indeed spent most of his vacation preparing for this semester's classes. His eyes fell on the double doors to the lecture hall just in time to see an Angel walk through them.   
  
Tai was dimly aware of Akira offering him exorbitant amounts of money for help in English, but the bulk of his attention was focused on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was....perfect. That was the only word Tai could find to describe her. She had brown hair, the color of dark chocolate, that spilled over her shoulders down her back. Her eyes were the deepest, darkest blue Tai had ever seen.  
  
"There you go again!" Akira gave Tai a quick slap to the back of the head, jolting him out of his trance. He turned and looked at Akira, trying to reconstruct what his friend had been saying while he was distracted.   
  
"Uh....yeah.....notes, English, tutor....Got it." Tai said. He quickly turned back around and scanned the room for the woman who had captivated his attention. There she was, sitting on the other side of the lecture hall, three rows back from the front row.   
  
"Hey, what's so interesting?" Akira asked. He followed Tai's gaze to the front of the room. He was almost surprised when he realized that his friend was staring at a girl. He studied her for a moment. "Well she's cute I guess." He finally said. "I didn't think you went for blondes though."  
  
"Blondes?" Tai asked.  
  
"Yeah." Akira replied, pointing. "You were checking her out weren't you?" For the first time, Tai noticed another girl with long blonde hair sitting next to.....whoever she was. Now that Tai thought about it, he remembered that the two had entered together.  
  
"Not the blonde one." Tai said. "Her friend. The one in the uniform."  
  
Akira shifted his gaze to the other girl, and immediately frowned. "Oh no!" he groaned. "What is it with you Matsumoto? It takes you two years to notice that this school is full of hot women, and when you finally do, you pick *that* one."  
  
"You know her?" Tai asked.  
  
"In a manner of speaking." Akira said. "She's in my math class."  
  
"Who is she?" Tai asked.  
  
"Might as well not even ask buddy." Akira said. "You don't want anything to do with that one, believe me."  
  
"Why? What's wrong with her?"  
  
Akira put his hand on Tai's shoulder. "Okay, she may look great. Well.....all right, no maybe about it, she's gorgeous. But trust me, that girl is a total Ice Princess."  
  
"What?" Tai asked.  
  
"I know." Akira said. "She doesn't look the part. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I had a math class with her this morning. I saw her come in and sit down. She didn't have the blonde chick with her at the time so I was thinking of making a move, but some other guy beat me to it. Now from what I saw, this guy was just trying to make conversation like any normal person would; but I swear to God, she nearly bit his head off."  
  
"You're kidding." Tai said. "She looks like a nice girl."  
  
"Well I guess looks really *aren't* everything." Akira said. "I suggest you find somebody else to crush on;" he pointed at the girl, "because there is nothing but trouble over there."  
  
"Maybe she's just having a bad day." Tai suggested. "I mean, first day of class....everyone's nerves are on-edge, right?"  
  
"God, you really are hooked aren't you?" Akira said. He stood up. "Well come on." he said. "We have to nip this in the bud right now."  
  
"What?" Tai asked.  
  
Akira grabbed Tai's arm and pulled him up out of his chair. "Come on. I can tell the only way you're going to get this girl out of your mind is to see just how cold she really is. We're going to go talk to her."  
  
Tai pulled out of his friend's grip quickly and violently. "No way!" he said, "I can't go talk to her."  
  
"Come one!" Akira said, "A minute ago you were undressing her with your eyes, now you won't even talk to her?"  
  
"I was not undressing her!" Tai said a little too loudly. Several heads turned. "I wasn't." Tai continued, more quietly this time.  
  
"Fine. You were admiring her in a totally pure and virtuous way. That sound better? Now come on, we're going to talk to her before class starts."  
"What am I supposed to say to her?" Tai asked.  
  
"Trust me, it won't matter what you say." Akira assured him. "You could come up with a sonnet to make Shakespeare envious and you'd still get shot down. Just be yourself, and don't be surprised when she doesn't care."  
  
"All right." Tai sighed. "I'll give it a try."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru and Claire had found two empty seats near the front of the lecture hall and sat down. Michiru began flipping through her English text book while Claire took a quick look around the hall.  
  
"See anything interesting?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Quite a few actually." Claire replied. "What do you think of him?" she asked, pointing to a random guy in the front row.  
  
Michiru took a quick look and shrugged her shoulders. "No comment." she said.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Claire asked.  
  
"I'm just not interested that's all."  
  
"Not interested in men?" Claire asked suspiciously, giving her a look that made Michiru realize that she had just given her new friend the wrong idea entirely.  
  
"Oh it's not like that!" Michiru said quickly. "I *like* men." she assured Claire. "Just not the 'men' of our particular generation." The look in Claire's eyes said she didn't totally get Michiru's point. "Remind to explain to you about the three groups some time." She said. "I just find guys our age....substandard."  
  
"Oh." Claire said. "Well don't look now, but there are two 'substandard' males heading right this way."  
  
Michiru looked anyway. Sure enough, two guys were making their way down the aisle toward Michiru and Claire. One was the tall athletic type, with brown hair and the look of a total jock. His friend was slightly shorter and considerably thinner. He seemed more reserved, almost shy. Michiru rolled her eyes and turned back to Claire. "They're all yours." She said, starting to get up. Claire stopped her and pushed her back into the seat.   
  
"Not a chance girl, you're staying right here." she said.  
  
Michiru sighed. It was too late to leave now anyway. The two guys had already reached them. The athlete was the first to speak.  
  
"Hi." He said in a friendly voice. "How's it going ladies."  
  
"Great!" Claire smiled and struggled to reply in Japanese. "What is up?"  
  
"Oh nothing much." the young man replied. "We just thought we'd come say 'hello'. You're both new here aren't you?"  
  
"Yes." Claire said. "It's our first day."  
  
He smiled. "Then let me be the first to welcome you to Tokyo University." he said. "I'm Akira." the young man pointed at his friend, who had yet to say a word. "And this guy here is Tai. He doesn't talk much."  
  
"I'm Claire." Claire said. "And this is Michiru." She nudged Michiru lightly with her elbow.  
  
"Hi." Michiru said quickly before lapsing back into silence.  
  
Akira gave his friend Tai and look that seemed to say *See, I told you so*. Then he smiled again. "Well we were just looking over the text for this class; looks pretty tough. We just thought you two might like to do a study group or something some time. How about Friday night at the Student Café?"  
  
"Sure!" Claire said cheerfully.   
  
"What about you, Michiru?" Akira asked.  
  
"I can't. I'm working." Michiru said in an icy tone.  
  
"Really?" Akira said, sending another knowing look Tai's way. "Too bad. Well if you can get out of it we'd love to see you." He smiled again. "We'd better be going. Looks like class is about to start." He gave them one last wave, then he and Tai turned and headed back to their seats.  
  
As soon as Akira and Tai were out of earshot, Claire turned to Michiru. "Jeez, you really *do* have a problem with guys don't you?" she said.  
  
"It's not my problem." Michiru replied. "It's the guys. They're all the same. Just big dumb animals drooling over anything in a skirt."  
  
"I don't know..." Claire said, looking over to where Akira and Tai had sat down. "I thought he was kind of cute."  
  
"Which one?" Michiru sneered. "Jay or Silent Bob?"  
  
"Both of them actually." Claire said. "But I was thinking of the tall one. Akira."  
  
"That walking hormone?" Michiru said in disbelief. "What do you see in him?"  
  
"I don't know." Claire confessed. "He just seemed like an OK guy. His friend seemed nice too. What was his name?"  
  
"Tai" Michiru said.  
  
"Yeah Tai. He seemed all right. He certainly wasn't drooling."  
  
Michiru found she didn't have a comeback to that. As much as she would have liked to deny it, there *was* something about Tai. He seemed....different somehow. Not like the other guys she had run into today. She brushed the thought away. It was probably just because he hadn't said anything. Michiru was sure that if he had talked, he would have turned out to be just like his friend. Another idiot male.  
  
"So," Claire said, "Friday night.....student café. You with me?"  
  
"I said I'm working." Michiru replied.  
  
"And I'm sure Akira and Tai believed you." Claire said. "I, on the other hand, cannot be lied to. I always know." She smiled. "You might as well get used to it if we're going to be friends."  
  
"Why should I want to hang out in some café with those two?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Two reasons." Claire replied. "One: I'm a young lady in a foreign land and I need someone who understands the culture to accompany me and keep me from embarrassing myself. Two:" she paused, smiling. "I think Tai has a thing for you."  
  
"A 'thing'?" Michiru asked dubiously.  
  
"Yeah." Claire said. "He couldn't take his eyes off you the entire time we were talking. He seems like a nice guy too. So my advice is to come with me Friday and see if you can't add a fourth group to that list of yours."  
  
Michiru smiled despite herself. "Fine." She said. "But just this once."  
  
"Deal."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"That was great Tai." Akira said after they had sat back down. "Really an amazing display of linguistic aptitude. For future reference though, it usually works better if you actually *open* your mouth."  
  
"Oh shut up!" Tai said.  
  
"Woah! Touchy, touchy." Akira said. "Hey I warned you about that girl. And I was right wasn't I?"  
  
Tai didn't answer. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Michiru. Even her name was beautiful. It was true she had brushed them off rudely, but nevertheless there was something about her. Something Tai couldn't quite put his finger on. He had blown his chance at talking to her but there was hope. Akira was meeting her friend Claire at the Student Café on Friday. He could try to contact her through Claire. He had to have another chance to get to know the girl who had captivated him so suddenly.  
  
"Who is she?" he whispered to himself. Tai had never been this obsessed with a girl before. It frightened him. He felt that meeting Michiru was a turning point of sorts. Tai felt like his life was about to change forever.  
  
He couldn't have imagined how right he was.....  
  
To Be Continued... 


	3. Faces from the past EVA Unleashed!

Legal Stuff: We all know the drill by now, but let's get it out of the way just the same. EVA belongs to Gainax and Anno. All my ACCs belong to me. I think that pretty much covers it.  
* * * * *  
Dedication: To everyone who has taken the time to read and review my stories. Thanks so much for your support.  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:3- Faces from the Past/ EVA Unleashed!  
  
"Michiru, can you hear me?" Dr. Maya Ibuki's voice came over the radio link and into the test plug where Michiru sat.  
  
"Loud and clear." Michiru said.  
  
"Good." Maya replied. "Beginning to feel comfortable in there are you?" she asked.  
  
Michiru smiled. "You were right." She said. "I am starting to get used to it." Nearly a week had passed since her first battle in Unit 01. During that week, most of Michiru's time outside of class had been spent at NERV headquarters, training in the EVA. The more time she spent in training, the more comfortable she felt with the bizarre, weightless warmth that came with synchronization. Moving the Evangelion's body as her own was fast becoming second nature for Michiru.  
  
"Today we're going to monitor the harmonics between you and Unit 01." Dr. Ibuki said. "Just relax and we'll have you out of there as soon as we can."  
  
Michiru sighed. Harmonics tests were, she had decided, the second worst part of her job as an EVA pilot, second only to actual combat. Of course, Michiru wasn't sure she could really compare the two. Her only experience of fighting an Angel had been terrifying, certainly, but it had only lasted a few minutes. They had been the longest minutes of her life, but that was beside the point. Dr. Ibuki's harmonics tests probably weren't life threatening, but sitting in Unit 01's entry plug for three to five hours with nothing to do sometimes made Michiru long for the next attack, if only to end the monotony.  
  
"Be careful what you wish for....." Michiru muttered under her breath, pushing such thoughts out of her mind.  
  
"What was that?" Dr. Ibuki asked. "I didn't catch it."  
  
"Nothing." Michiru said. "Just talking to myself."  
  
"I know this is tedious," Maya apologized, "but it's necessary for us to observe how your connection with Unit 01 varies during a period of prolonged activation. This will allow you to synchronize more efficiently in the future."  
  
"All right." Michiru sighed. "Let's just get it over with. I have somewhere I have to go tonight."  
  
"Oh really?" Misato's face appeared on a holographic image in front of her. "Who's the lucky guy?"  
  
"It's not like that!" Michiru snapped. "I have a study group for English class."  
  
"I see." Misato winked at her. "Well we'll all do our best to make sure you aren't late for 'studying'."  
  
"Okay Michiru." Dr, Ibuki said. "You know the drill. Just relax and let us take care of the rest."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"How's it look?" Misato asked.  
  
"Very good Commander." Maya replied. "Her Synch Ratio is up by .91 percent since yesterday. That puts her at 41.3 percent."  
  
"41.3 percent? That's outstanding." Misato said. "Especially since most of her advancement has been through non-combat training."  
  
"She really was born to pilot EVA." Maya said. "It's in her blood."  
  
"I just hope what we're doing is right for Michiru." Both women turned to see Toji Suzahara leaning against the back wall of the observation booth.   
  
"What do you mean 'what *we're* doing'?" Misato asked. "You said yourself when we picked her up; we aren't forcing her to do this. It's of her own will."  
  
"You really believe that, Commander?" Toji asked. "Do you really think there's any way Michiru can leave now?"  
  
"Of course she can." Maya said. "If she wanted to, she could leave today. None of us would stop her. And she knows that."  
  
"But she also knows something else." Toji said. "She knows that we haven't found anyone else who can pilot an EVA yet. She knows that if she quits we won't have any way to fight the Angels. She knows that if she doesn't fight, it's all over, for everyone. She couldn't live with herself if that happened. She isn't doing this because she likes it. No one likes piloting EVA. *No one.* She doesn't feel like she has any choice. She's trapped. Trapped by her own sense of duty."  
  
"How do you know how she feels, Major?" Maya asked.  
  
Toji sighed, unconsciously flexing the stainless steel fingers of his left hand. "Because that's how I felt."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Student Cafe was quite a lively place, considering it's relatively bland name. The cafe was run by Tokyo University's Campus Activity Group, a council of upperclassmen whose job was to set up extra-curricular activities for students. The small building had been decorated by students. Its walls were covered with bumper stickers, Christmas tree lights, and movie posters. Loud dance music played over speakers throughout the building.  
  
The cafe was not the kind of place one went to for quiet studying. Then again, from what Michiru had seen of Akira, studying had probably never been part of the plan to begin with. *Figures* Michiru thought, rolling her eyes. At least she was able to blend in this time, unlike in class the other day. She had managed to find some time a few days earlier to go shopping.   
  
For tonight, Michiru had picked out a pair of light blue jeans and a plain black shirt. She felt much less conspicuous in her new clothes than she had in her NERV uniform. Of course, next to Claire's.....ensemble, Michiru's casual outfit seemed downright conservative.   
  
From her dress and behavior at school, Michiru had taken Claire to be somewhat reserved, especially for an American. But tonight, Claire was showing off her wild side. She had shown up wearing a pair of baggy green pants that looked like part of an army uniform and a sleeveless white T-shirt that left her midriff bare, the better to show off the tribal tattoo on her right arm and her pierced navel. Standing next to Claire, Michiru actually began to feel over dressed.  
  
"Do you always dress like this for studying?" Michiru asked.  
  
Claire laughed. "Not really." She said. "But in this case I thought I'd make an exception. I see you found something nice to wear. Trying to impress someone?"  
  
"No!" Michiru said forcefully. "This is how I always dress. I'm not here to hook up with what's-his-name."  
  
"Fine if you say so." Claire said. "Don't worry, by the way." She added. "You look great. I'm sure Tai will like it."  
  
"I didn't pick it out for Tai." Michiru said. "But thanks."  
  
Claire smiled. "Hey what are friends for, right?"   
  
"So where are those two anyway?" Michiru asked, looking around the cafe. "They were supposed to meet us here weren't they?"  
  
"Over there." Claire pointed to a booth in the far corner of the cafe, where Akira was waving to them.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What about her?" Akira drew Tai's attention to a pretty girl walking by their booth. Tai looked, made a sound to indicate that, yes, the girl was indeed pretty, then went back to concentrating on the drink in front of him.  
  
Tai didn't spend a lot of time in the Student Cafe as a rule. The place was too loud for his taste. He was here tonight on a mission. The only way he would ever be able to talk to Michiru without tripping over his words would be to call her at home. Tai's sole purpose for being in the crowded, dimly lit cafe was to somehow convince Claire to give him her friend's telephone number. He had explained all of this to Akira, who had reacted with his usual tact and restraint.  
  
"You're a damn idiot!" had been Akira's exact words. "Didn't you learn your lesson back there in class? It would take an N2 mine to melt that girl's heart!"  
  
Thinking back, Tai still didn't know what it was about Michiru that had captivated him. Sure she was beautiful, but so were a lot of girls. There was something else; something that set her apart and made it impossible for Tai to simply move on and put her out of his mind. Whatever the reason, it bore further investigation. And if the only way he could find out more about her was to pry her telephone number from her friend, then that was what he would do. Because although Tai Matsumoto was many things, a quitter was not one of them.   
  
"Hey, there's Claire." Akira said; raising his hand over his head and waving at someone behind Tai, he assumed that someone was Claire. "Oh look; she brought your girl with her." He added.  
  
Tai whipped his head around fast enough to cause serious neck injury. Sure enough, Michiru had decided to come to the cafe after all. Tai once again found himself hypnotized. He couldn't take his eyes off Michiru as she and Claire made their way to toward his table. His attention was drawn away by Akira tapping his shoulder. He turned back to face his friend.  
  
"All right now pay attention." Akira said. "You may have a chance with her after all. If she was willing to come here at all then there's hope. Now what you have to do is not blow it like you did last time. The key here is to act natural."  
  
"Huh? What do you mean?" Tai asked.  
  
"Just try to pretend you aren't madly obsessed with her and it'll be just like talking to anyone else. I know it sounds dumb but it works, trust me."  
  
"Okay." Tai said with a sigh. "I'll try."  
  
Just then, Claire and Michiru reached the booth. Akira stood up to great them. "Hi." He said. "You two are looking great tonight. Glad you could make it, Michiru." Michiru simply nodded and slid into the seat next to Tai. Tai felt his face redden from being so close to her. Fortunately, the cafe's red lights hid his blushing from Michiru.  
  
"Uh....hi." He managed to say. Michiru looked at him.....and smiled! If Tai had blinked, he would have missed it but there was no doubt, Michiru had smiled at him.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru had a feeling that Claire would want to sit next to Akira and that was fine by her. She certainly had no desire to sit with him. Instead, she took the seat next to Tai. She thought she saw traces of red in his face as she sat down, but that could have been a trick of the light.   
  
"Uh....hi." Tai said. Michiru glanced at Tai and couldn't help smiling. Tai really was quite handsome; she hadn't noticed it before. His black hair hung down to just below his jaw line. Michiru didn't normally find long hair on guys attractive, but Tai pulled it off, mostly by keeping his hair tied back in a short ponytail. Only a few thin strands of hair were left to dangle in front of two emerald green eyes. Tai's face somehow managed to portray strength and sensitivity at the same time. It was a very appealing combination.  
  
Michiru wiped the smile off her face the second she realized it was there. But she couldn't seem to draw her gaze away from those eyes. She kept her eyes on Tai, studying every detail of his face. Afraid that Tai would notice she was staring at him, Michiru quickly looked away, focusing her attention on Akira. At least she didn't find herself uncharacteristically getting lost in *his* eyes. "So...." She said, giving Akira an accusing look. "Studying, huh?"  
  
Akira laughed. "Looks like I've been caught." he said. "Well I figured we should just get to know each other first, you know...."  
  
"Right." Michiru said, in a voice that made it clear that she didn't buy Akira's story for one minute. "I'm sure you get to know all your 'study partners' by taking them out drinking."  
  
"Just the pretty ones." Akira said with a smile. Michiru rolled her eyes. "So I see you got them to give you the night off. Where do you work anyway?" He asked.  
  
"I don't think that's any of your business." Michiru said.  
  
Akira held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I'm just making conversation here." He said.  
  
"I can't believe I let myself get talked into this." Michiru said, standing up. "Sorry to leave you hanging like this Claire, but I have to go now." Without another word, she turned and headed for the door.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Akira waited until Michiru was out of earshot, not too long thanks to the cafe's noisy atmosphere, and turned to Tai. "Okay Grasshopper." He said. "Now's your chance."  
  
"What?" Sometimes Tai swore he and Akira spoke different languages altogether.   
  
"You get to be the nice guy and go talk to her." Akira said. "And don't say I never did anything for you."  
  
"Oh I get it!" Claire spoke up. "It's like 'Good Cop/Bad Cop'. Pretty tricky." She smiled at Akira with a new look of respect.  
  
Finally it hit Tai. Akira had been baiting Michiru the whole time. The entire point of their "conversation" was to get Michiru to leave the table so Tai could talk to her alone. Not wanting to let his friend's efforts go to waste, Tai jumped up and ran after Michiru.  
  
He caught up with her at the doors leading out of the cafe. "Michiru!" He called. "Hold on a second!"  
  
Michiru stopped and turned around, a look somewhere between anger and annoyance on her face. "What do you want, Tai?" She asked impatiently.  
  
"I just wanted to...apologize, for what happened back there." He said. "Akira can be a little...."  
  
"Irritating?" Michiru suggested.  
  
"Yeah." Tai said with a smile. "But he really is a decent guy, once you get to know him."  
  
"Yeah?" Michiru said. "Well I'll take your word for it." She turned to leave. Tai had to try something else or he would lose her.  
  
"Why don't we just forget about Akira?" He said, rushing to catch up with Michiru. "I don't think those two want us around anyway." He drew Michiru's attention to their booth where Akira and Claire were enthusiastically flirting with each other. "Look;" he said, "You got off work, you came all this way; the least I can do is buy you a drink, right?"  
  
"Listen, Tai." Michiru said gently. "You seem like a nice guy, despite your unsavory associations." She threw an evil look at Akira. "But I'm really not ready to be in the 'dating' scene right now. I'm sorry." Tai could only nod silently. "I *would* stay and have a drink with you, I really would." Michiru continued. "But I had a long day today, and I'm very tired so I think I'm going to go home. Tell Claire I said goodnight."  
  
"Wait." Tai called after her. She turned again; giving him the kind of look you gave a stray puppy that wouldn't stop following you around. "At least let me give you a ride home." He said.  
  
"I can take care of myself." Michiru said.  
  
"That was never even a question." Tai assured her. "It would just be a lot easier for you than walking."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru couldn't help smiling at Tai's persistence. Misato's apartment wasn't that far from the campus, and Tokyo 3's streets were some of the safest in the world. There was no reason why she couldn't walk there by herself. Still, there was something endearing about Tai's insistence that she not walk home alone. In any other guy, she would have called it chauvinism, but Tai's offer lacked the necessary condescension. Michiru found only one word to describe Tai; gentleman. There was no implication in his offer that she was incapable of getting home on her own. Nor was there the indication that she would owe Tai any kind of favor. As far as Michiru could tell, Tai was simply offering her a ride so that she would not have to walk.  
  
"Sure." She finally said, smiling. "Why not?"  
  
Tai paused when they reached his car. "Listen..." He said. "I think we got off to a bad start back there. And in class Monday."  
  
"Yeah." Michiru agreed. "I guess we did."  
  
"Want to try again?" He asked.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Okay then." Tai stuck out his hand. "I'm Tai Matsumoto."  
  
Michiru smiled and shook Tai's hand. "Michiru Ikari." She said.  
  
Tai smiled. "Nice to meet you Michiru."  
  
* * * * *  
  
After their pleasant 'introduction' in the parking lot, Tai found himself right back where he started: nervous as hell. He drove in silence, trying desperately to come up with something, anything, to say to Michiru that wouldn't sound totally idiotic.  
  
"So.....uh.....have you...lived in Tokyo 3 long?" *Oh THAT was brilliant, Tai.* He thought. *Not at all pathetically lame.*  
  
"Actually I just moved here a week ago. From Tokyo 2." Michiru said. "What about you?"  
  
"Oh...I've lived here for about two years." Tai replied.  
  
"And before that?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Well...everywhere." Tai said, somewhat reluctantly. "Okinawa, Kyoto, New Hiroshima....But I'm from here originally."  
  
"So you moved a lot?" Michiru said. "Military family?"  
  
Tai's face seemed to fall. "No....." He said. "Uh....no family actually. Lots of foster homes."  
  
"Oh...." Michiru fell silent. "Sorry."  
  
"It's okay." Tai said. "I try not to worry about it. It was a long time ago." *Now you're lying* Tai said to himself. *Of course that's probably better than telling her the whole nasty story when we just met.* "....So this lady you live with...."  
  
"Misato." Michiru said.  
  
"Yeah." Tai said. "Is she, like...family or...."  
  
"Uh that's kind of complicated." Michiru said, smiling. "She's a....friend of the family. And she's sort of my boss too."  
  
"Oh yeah." Tai said. "Where *do* you work. If you don't mind me asking, I mean."  
  
"Oh....it's not that I mind." Michiru explained. "It's just that.......there are parts of my job that I'm not allowed to talk about." She thought for a moment. "I.....do some work for the UN." She finally said.  
  
"Oh, you work for NERV." Tai said casually.  
  
"You know about NERV?" Michiru asked, startled.  
  
"Sure." Tai said. "Everyone around here knows about NERV. This whole city used to be NERV's company town back in 2015. Practically everyone moved away for some reason, no one really knows why. Anyway, pretty much the only people who stayed here worked for NERV. It's still one of the main employers and I just realized that the 'Tokyo 3 History Lecture' isn't exactly an exciting topic for conversation."  
  
Michiru laughed. "It's okay." She said.  
  
"Speaking of that;" Tai said, "I hear a lot of people are planning on leaving again. You know, after the incident last week. I guess no one wants to live in a war zone." A thought hit Tai. Michiru worked for NERV. NERV was involved in the so-called "Giant Monster" incident. Michiru moved to Tokyo 3 a week ago. The incident took place a week ago. *No.* Tai shook that thought off. *It's probably just a coincidence.*  
  
"Yeah." Michiru was suddenly quiet. "What about you?"  
  
"No way. I'm here for the long run." Tai smiled. "I've already done two years of pre-med here. Transferring now would be more trouble than staying. Besides, I like it here."   
  
"You know, Tai?" Michiru said. "You're not like other guys."  
  
"How so?" Tai asked.  
  
"I don't know." Michiru said. "You're just different from the other guys I've met since I got here."  
  
"What do you mean 'different'?" Tai asked with a bemused smile.  
  
"Well....." Michiru thought for a moment. "You're not a total jerk for one thing." She said with a laugh.  
  
Tai found himself laughing along with Michiru. "Well I'm glad you think so." He said.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So how was your study group?" Misato called out from the living room as Michiru entered the apartment.  
  
"Oh, it went great." Michiru said cheerfully, walking into the living room and flopping down on the couch next to Misato. "*I* met someone." She said.  
  
"Really?" Misato said. "Is this 'someone' a boy?"  
  
"No." Michiru said. "That's the great part. He's a total gentleman."  
  
"Does this gentleman have a name?" Misato asked.  
  
Michiru leaned back, letting herself sink into the couch cushions. "Tai." She said with a sigh. "Tai Matsumoto."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru's alarm began buzzing incessantly at 6:00 A.M. the next morning. Michiru slapped the snooze bar with slightly more than the necessary force and pulled herself out of bed, muttering a few choice phrases that described her feelings toward alarm clocks. If Michiru had one complaint about her dual responsibilities as a freshman in college and a Private in NERV, it was having to juggle two very demanding schedules at once. Her full schedule of morning classes during the week meant that the only days that she could set aside enough time for useful combat training were weekends. And that meant that she now had to report to work by 7:00 A.M. every Saturday morning.   
  
She had spoken to Dr. Ibuki about this problem. Maya had acted sympathetic, but the general gist of her response was, "Would you rather sleep in Saturdays or survive the next battle?" Michiru had tried to make the doctor reconsider, reasoning that she wouldn't be much good as a pilot if she was too tired to concentrate on the battle. Her argument had fallen on deaf ears, however. Michiru had learned quickly that once the people at NERV set their minds on a course of action, there was very little point in arguing. It was better just to accept the schedule they set up voluntarily rather than waiting for suggestions to become orders. Michiru sighed, heading for the bathroom. At least combat training wasn't as tedious as harmonics tests.  
  
After bathing, Michiru put on one of her new NERV uniforms. The uniforms had been fitted specifically for her. Now that they were the right size, Michiru found the NERV uniforms quite comfortable. After eating a quick breakfast, Michiru left the apartment and headed for the nearest entry to the Geofront, sliding her ID card through a scanner and taking a long elevator ride down into NERV Headquarters.   
  
Captain Aida was waiting for her when she got off the elevator, along with Major Suzahara.   
  
"Ah, there you are." The Captain said. "Right on time."  
  
Michiru smiled. She had always taken pride in being punctual. She liked others to know they could count on her. "What are we doing today?" She asked.  
  
"Today we find out how much you've learned." Major Suzahara replied. "You're going to take your first run through the Hazard Course."  
  
"Hazard course?" Michiru wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.   
  
"Go get changed." Captain Aida said. "I'll explain everything once you're in the test plug."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru changed clothes in the small locker room adjacent to the EVA restraint cage. She hung her uniform in her locker and pulled on the light blue entry plug suit that had been made for her. She marveled at the irony of the suit. While piloting Unit 01, Michiru's actual body barely moved at all, all of her motions were translated to the EVA. Yet the plug suit allowed more freedom of movement than any other outfit Michiru had ever worn. At the press of a button, the entire suit conformed to every contour of her body; it sometimes felt like she wasn't wearing anything at all. Of course, the plug suit was designed the way it was to remove the neural interference that loose clothes could sometimes cause. The comfort and added mobility were merely agreeable side effects of the suit's design.  
  
After putting on her plug suit, Michiru made her way to the test chamber and climbed into the test plug. The plug was really just a copy of Unit 01's actual entry plug suspended in a metal tube. It simulated synchronization without using the EVA itself, allowing Michiru to train without risking damage to Unit 01. Synchronizing in the test plug was identical to piloting Unit 01 itself, except that the visual data could be altered to whatever was needed for training. The blank walls of the test chamber were replaced with whatever the officers running the test wanted her to see. When the test plug was activated on this particular day, Michiru saw what looked like an obstacle course in front of her.  
  
"This is the Hazard Course, Michiru." Captain Aida said to her. "We'll be evaluating how quickly and efficiently you complete the course objectives. Understand?"  
  
"Got it." Michiru said.  
  
"Then begin." A timer appeared in front of Michiru and began counting seconds up from zero. Michiru wasted no time in sprinting for the first obstacle, a sheer stone wall. Just before reaching the wall, Michiru jumped, engaging her progressive knife as she flew toward the wall. She hit the wall halfway up and drove the knife in. The blade held and she pulled herself the rest of the way up over the wall. She leapt down on the other side and ran for the next hazard. The obstacle consisted of several missile turrets firing at her. Michiru stopped in her tracks, relaxed, and concentrated, sending the emotional signals to Unit 01 as she had been instructed. The missiles impacted harmlessly on the AT Field that unfolded in front of her. And it was on to the next obstacle; a reconstruction of the Angel Michiru had fought her first time in Unit 01, which she blasted to pieces with the rifle that was provided to her.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Michiru stepped out of the test plug. She took a towel from the shelf next to the door and wiped as much LCL off of her as she could. Then she headed for the briefing room to get her test results.  
  
"That was *very* good." Captain Aida said, smiling. "You completed the course in 19.5 minutes with a minimum of collateral damage. That's quite exceptional for your first time."  
  
"Don't get cocky though." Major Suzahara said. His voice held a tone somewhere between warning and concern. "This was just a simulation under controlled conditions. Battle against the Angels is a whole different story, as I'm sure you know." Michiru nodded. She knew. She knew all too well. The Major smiled. "You did do well though." He said. "Good work."  
  
"Okay." Captain Aida said. "That's it for today. Sorry to get you up so early just for that." He apologized.  
  
"It's alright." Michiru said.   
  
"By the way, Michiru." Major Suzahara said. "Don't let Misato forget about tonight."  
  
"Tonight?" Michiru asked.  
  
"She forgot to tell you?" Toji asked.  
  
"Well....we haven't seen a lot of each other this week. I've been really busy." Michiru said.  
  
"You two are supposed to come over for dinner tonight." He said. "That is, if you didn't make other plans."  
  
"Uh...no." Michiru said. "No plans."  
  
Toji smiled. "Great." He said. "Then I'll see you both tonight."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Suzahara residence was a small apartment near Tokyo 3's downtown area. Misato and Michiru arrived late in the afternoon. Toji greeted them at the door. "Hi." He said cheerfully. "Come in."  
  
Toji led them into the living room and invited them to have a seat, which they did. Michiru took a moment to take in her new surroundings. Toji Suzahara's house had a style of decorating that could best be described as 'Spartan'. The living room was decorated with only a few chairs and a couch. A large cabinet in the corner held a television and a stereo system. The only other piece of furniture was a large bookcase. Despite the sparse furnishings, the room had a warm, inviting feel to it.   
  
"So." Misato said after a moment. "Where's the munchkin?"  
  
Toji smiled. "She just called." He said. "Soccer practice ran late. She should be here soon. So should Kensuke, actually."  
  
"Captain Aida?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Yeah." Toji nodded.  
  
"Kensuke's coming tonight?" Misato asked.  
  
"Well I figured it would probably be a good idea to invite him." Toji replied. "Otherwise he'd have wasted a perfectly good Saturday night working at the lab. That's all he does these days."  
  
"I thought he was going out with someone from the Medical Division. What's her name......?" Misato seemed to be thinking.  
  
"Mariko." Toji finished for her.  
  
"Yeah." Misato said. "Don't tell me they broke up."  
  
"Yeah." Toji nodded. "Apparently she 'wasn't his type'."  
  
"Oh." Something unspoken seemed to go between Toji and Misato. Michiru felt awkward listening in on their conversation. She still wasn't totally comfortable around her parents' friends. She hoped that 'the munchkin' was someone she could talk to without feeling out of place. She politely excused herself and walked down the hallway to the bathroom at the far end. She didn't have to use the bathroom, but she couldn't stay in the living room for much longer. She hoped she hadn't made the wrong decision by coming here tonight.   
  
Michiru splashed her face with cold water from the sink. Misato and Toji didn't have any problem being friends outside of work, but they had obviously known each other for years. She had just met these people and she still didn't feel very comfortable around them socially.   
  
On her way back to the living room, Michiru noticed a series of pictures hanging in the hallway. A large portrait in the center of the wall showed Toji and his wife on their wedding day. Michiru noted that the woman standing next to Toji was the same girl he had been with in her picture. Next to that was another picture of Toji and his wife. This time she was holding a tiny baby in her arms. Michiru moved down the hall to the next picture in line. At first she thought the picture of a teenage girl in a soccer uniform was of Toji's wife. She had the same dark brown eyes and freckled face. But where Toji's wife had brown hair this girl's hair was the same dark black as the Major's. Michiru figured that she must be Major Suzahara's daughter. What was the girl's name? Machiko? That sounded right. The last picture was somewhat smaller than the others. However, it was this final picture that caught Michiru's interest most.   
  
In the picture, smiling brightly, were extremely young versions of five people from her picture, including her parents. Michiru stared at the photo for a long time. The figures in the picture, two of whom she knew only as middle-aged men, could not have been much more than thirteen or fourteen years old when the picture was taken. She noticed that the young Toji had both arms and an unmarred face. Oddly, her mother and father stood on opposite sides of the group, almost as if they were avoiding each other. Michiru was busy pondering the photo on the wall when she heard the front door open.  
  
"....saying is they should *tell* us when it's going to start getting cold so we can get warm clothes for practice!" A girl's voice came through the door.  
  
"Hey kid, cut the weather guy some slack." Michiru heard Captain Aida say. "This is the first cold snap Japan's had in forty years."  
  
"I know." The girl said. "But still; how are we supposed to practice when we're freezing our butts off?"  
  
"Beats me." He replied.  
  
Michiru followed the sound into the foyer where she found captain Aida talking to the same teenage girl she had seen pictured in the hallway. Misato and Toji joined her in the foyer seconds later. Kensuke and the girl seemed to notice them for the first time.  
  
"Hey Toji." Kensuke said. "Look what I found in the elevator." He gestured toward the girl. "She *claims* to be yours."  
  
The girl smiled. "Hi Dad." She said cheerfully.  
  
"Hi Munchkin." Toji said. "How was practice?"  
  
"COLD!" The girl replied forcefully. She seemed to notice Michiru for the first time. "Uh.....hi." She said.  
  
"Hi." Michiru replied, stepping forward. "You must be Machiko. I'm Michiru."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Machiko said.   
  
* * * * *  
  
After Machiko's arrival, Michiru felt right at home. The conversation switched to mundane issues such as work and school; issues Michiru had no problem talking about. After dinner, Machiko began clearing away the table. Not wanting to be left in the same uncomfortable position as before, Michiru volunteered to help. Grabbing a plate in each hand, she followed Machiko into the small kitchen.   
  
Machiko smiled when she saw Michiru enter the kitchen. "Thanks." She said, taking the plates from Michiru and washing them off in the sink. "So you live with Miss Misato?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah." Michiru said.  
  
"Talk about a mess, huh?" Machiko said. "I stayed there for about a week once when Dad was out of town on business. Don't get me wrong, I love Misato, she's the best. I just can't imagine living with her."  
  
"Oh, it's not so bad once you get used to it." Michiru said.  
  
"Really?" Machiko cast a dubious glance at Michiru.  
  
"Well......no." Machiko laughed. "So you play soccer?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Yep." Machiko replied, grinning. "Ever since grade school. I'm captain of the team this year."  
  
"That's great." Michiru said.  
  
"Yeah." Machiko said. "We're gonna kick butt!"  
  
"Really?"   
  
"Oh yeah!" Machiko said enthusiastically. "No question. Besides obviously being the best;" She smiled. "We're also the most motivated."  
  
"Oh?" Michiru was amused by the girl's enthusiasm.  
  
"Yeah." Machiko continued. "We have the cutest assistant coach in all of Japan. So no one ever wants to miss practice."  
  
"Well I hope you have a good season."  
  
"Oh we will." Machiko assured her. "Do you play?"  
  
"Soccer? No." Michiru said. "I'm more of a softball kind of girl."  
  
"Oh." Machiko smiled. "Well nobody's perfect."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Later that evening when it was time to go home, Misato and Michiru got ready to leave. Michiru was getting their jackets from the closet when Captain Aida came up and spoke to her. "Michiru?"  
  
She turned around. "Uh...yeah." Michiru said.  
  
"Um....I used to be a pretty big video nut back when I was a kid." Kensuke began. "I carried a video camera around all the time."  
  
"Uh huh....." Michiru wasn't quite sure where Captain Aida was going with this.  
  
"Well anyway." He said, pulling a small videodisk out of his pocket. "I meant to give you this for your birthday, but it took me longer to find it than I expected." He handed the disk to Michiru. She read the handwritten label. 'Reunion Party 2016'.  
  
"Is this.......?" Michiru began.  
  
Kensuke smiled. "Happy Birthday, Michiru."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So what did you think of Machiko?" Misato asked as they drove back home.  
  
"She's great." Michiru said. "She seemed to have a lot of good stuff to say about you."  
  
Misato smiled. "Well Machiko and I go way back." She said. "I.....helped Toji take care of her.....when her mother died."  
  
"Her mother?"  
  
"Yeah." Misato said sadly. "Machiko was only three when it happened. Toji took it really hard; he and Hikari grew up together. He went through a pretty bad time right after. So I helped take care of Machiko until he was better." She smiled. "She's turned out great though."  
  
"Yeah." Michiru said quietly. She couldn't pity anyone as happy and well adjusted as Machiko Suzahara, but she did feel sympathy for the girl. Michiru couldn't decide which was worse, never knowing your mother, or losing her at three years old. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the disk Kensuke had given her. "Misato, do you have something at home that can play this?"  
  
Misato took the disk and examined it closely, keeping one eye on the road. "Not at home." She finally said. "But I'm sure there's something at the lab that can play it. I'm going in tomorrow night, you can come along if you want."  
  
"Definitely." Michiru said. Her whole life, her only connection to her mother and father had been through a photograph. But a photo couldn't move, or speak. It couldn't tell her what her parents had been like. Hopefully, the video Captain Aida had given her could.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The next night, Michiru went into Headquarters with Misato. She went straight to the video analysis lab. She showed the disk to the woman in charge of the lab. "Do we have anything here that can play this?"  
  
The woman examined the disk, frowning. "I don't think we can *play* this here." She finally said. "It's a pretty old format."  
  
"Oh." Michiru's face fell.   
  
"Well...." The woman said. "I can probably transfer this to another format if you'd like."   
  
"Really?" Michiru said. "Could you?"  
  
"Sure." She replied. "Any particular format you'd like?"  
  
Michiru thought for a moment. "Well......can you do DVD?" She asked.  
  
"Sure." The woman replied, smiling. "It'll take about an hour to transfer."  
  
"Okay." Michiru said. "I'll come back in an hour."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The next hour seemed like an eternity to Michiru. She sat in the break room, sipping a cup of tea and trying desperately not to look at the clock on the wall every three seconds. Eventually after what had seemed like two or three hours, she glanced at the clock and realized that only twenty minutes had passed. Fed up, she left the break room, determined to find something useful to do.   
  
She was on her way to Central Dogma, NERV's fancy name for the control room where the Magi supercomputers were housed, when alarms started blaring throughout the base. A chill came over Michiru. She stood completely still, terrified of what would happen next. Sure enough, seconds after the alarms started, her cellular phone began to ring. Michiru didn't waste time answering the phone. She dropped her cup and sprinted for the nearest elevator.   
  
As the elevator descended, Michiru grabbed her phone and punched in one of the many speed-dial combinations she had memorized. Misato answered on the first ring. "Michiru!" She said. "Where are you?"  
  
"In the elevator." Michiru replied. "I'm on my way to the cage."  
  
"Good." Misato said. "Suit up. I'll have Unit 01 ready to launch by the time your finished changing."  
  
"Misato? Is it......?" Michiru began.  
  
"Yes." Misato said.  
  
"Understood."  
  
Michiru put away her phone and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She had known this day would eventually come. Once again, it was time to do what she had been brought here to do. Once again, Tokyo 3 was under attack. By an Angel.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Primary and Secondary safety locks released."  
  
"Entry plug inserted. Detecting Pilot."  
  
"Graphs are normal. Pilot readings in the green."  
  
"S2 Unit functioning normally."  
  
Toji listened to the reports coming in from all around him. "Move Unit 01 into position." He ordered. "Use delivery route 35."  
  
"Yes Sir."   
  
Toji opened a video link to Unit 01's entry plug. "Michiru." He said. "If we've timed this right, you should come out right behind the Angel. Raise your AT Field as soon as you start to launch. That'll neutralize the Angel's field. Then you can take it out with the rifle."  
  
"Okay." Michiru said.  
  
Toji nodded. "EVA Launch!" He called.  
  
* * * * *  
  
This time Michiru was ready for the g-force pressing her down as Unit 01 launched. She ignored the pressure and concentrated instead on unfolding her AT Field. By the time she jolted to a halt on the empty, twilight streets of Tokyo 3, she had raised the field completely. However, far from coming out behind her target, she couldn't see the Angel at all.   
  
"It's not here." She said.  
  
"What do you mean 'it's not there'?" Toji asked.  
  
Michiru scanned the city in every direction. Nothing. "I mean it's not here." She said.   
  
"That's impossible." Toji said. "It's on our scanners. It's right in front of you."  
  
"There's nothing out here, Major." Michiru insisted.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"What's going on?" Misato asked.  
  
"She says the target isn't there." Toji replied.  
  
Misato opened her own link to Michiru. "What's going on out there?" She asked.  
  
"How many ways am I supposed to say this?" Michiru asked, slightly annoyed. "It. Isn't. Here."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru's nervousness was quickly being replaced by irritation. They simply wouldn't accept that there was no Angel out here. Michiru slowly walked forward keeping her eyes open for any sign of an Angel. Maybe it was hiding behind one of the decoy buildings nearby. Raising her rifle, Michiru stepped around the corner of the nearest building, but there was no Angel waiting for her.  
  
"Michiru!" Misato called out. "You're right on top of it!"  
  
"Where?" Michiru asked. "I don't see anything!" She turned and headed for the next building.   
  
"Now you're moving away from it!" Major Suzahara yelled. "It's behind you now!"  
  
Michiru heard a sound behind her and spun around. The building she had just passed was moving! As Michiru watched, astonished, the sides seemed to unravel. Looking closer, Michiru realized that there was actually something wrapped around the building. The Angel, for that had to be what it was, could apparently change colors like a chameleon. It had fooled Michiru by mimicking the building it was clinging to. Now that its ruse had been exposed, the angel dropped its camouflage, its skin fading to a mottled green and gray color.   
  
Michiru had expected the Angel to look like the one she had fought before, but it was completely different. The Nineteenth Angel had been a sort of humanoid crab. This Angel looked more like a giant snake. The Angel even hissed like a snake when its eyes fell on Unit 01. But instead of striking out to bite like a snake, the Angel opened its mouth, revealing the S2 Core lodged deep in its throat. The Core began to glow.  
  
"Get out of the way!" Misato yelled. But it was too late. A beam of energy shot out of the Angel's core and struck the ground just below Unit 01. An instant later, the ground beneath the EVA exploded. The massive shaft of energy from the explosion surrounded Unit 01 and rose thousands of feet into the air. Near the top of the shaft, the energy spread out horizontally. The end result was an explosive blast that looked for all the world like a giant, glowing cross rising above the Tokyo 3 skyline.  
  
Michiru screamed as the explosion enveloped her. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before; a white hot burning that penetrated every cell of her body. Everything around her turned white, the brilliant light from the explosion blinded her temporarily. Desperately, Michiru raised her rifle and fired at random. Either one of the bullets accidentally hit its mark or the Angel ran out of power, because seconds later the explosive energy dissipated and Unit 01 fell to the ground, still smoking from the intense heat.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Tanaka! Report!" Toji yelled at the young woman monitoring Unit 01.  
  
"The first layer of armor has been completely vaporized!" Tanaka reported. "The second layer has sustained massive damage! Another hit like that and she'll be defenseless!"  
  
"Michiru!" Toji yelled. "You have to get up! Get out of there!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru couldn't move. Her skin still felt like it was on fire. The top layer of Unit 01's armor had been melted to slag. The next hit would probably kill her. She knew she had to get away from her attacker, but she couldn't stand up. Whenever she tried to move, the searing pain intensified.  
  
"I....can't." She whispered. "I.....can't.........move."  
  
"Michiru! It's coming for you!" Misato cried. Michiru looked up. The Angel was slithering toward her, hissing evilly. Michiru closed her eyes, expecting to feel the burning pain of the Angel's energy beam. Instead, she felt a cold sensation surrounding her.   
  
Michiru opened her eyes and looked down. The Angel was coiling its body around Unit 01 like a python. Seconds later, the Angel began to squeeze.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lieutenant Minako Tanaka stared at the screens, confused by the Angel's strange method of attack. "What the hell is it doing?" She wondered aloud.  
  
"It's like a snake." Commander Katsuragi said grimly. "It's going to crush her to death."  
  
"Why didn't it just shoot Unit 01 again?"   
  
"Maybe it used up all its energy with that first blast." Hisashi Kusanagi, a fellow lieutenant, suggested.   
  
"Commander, what are we going to do?" She asked.  
  
"There's.......nothing we can do." The Commander said. She kept her voice even, but there was no mistaking the fear she felt for Michiru. "We can't use conventional weapons without harming Unit 01's pilot further."  
  
"But she'll be killed!"   
  
"Michiru!" Commander Katsuragi said urgently. "You've got to fight back! You've got to!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru heard Misato urging her to fight, but she couldn't move. She was no longer paralyzed by the pain from the explosion. Now it was the Angel that had immobilized her. It had Unit 01 completely surrounded with its thick, muscular coils, pinning the EVA's arms to its sides. Michiru struggled, but the Angel held her tight and continued to squeeze. Michiru suddenly realized that she was running out of air. She knew that the LCL filling her lungs would give her oxygen no matter what. But she couldn't shake the feeling that the air was being crushed out of her.   
  
"Misato!" She gasped, with the last of her breath. "Help....me! I........can't.......breath!" She felt the world turning dark. As her vision blurred, she saw one last thing; a man standing, or rather floating, in front of her. When she realized who she was looking at, Michiru finally accepted that she was dying. Floating there, expressionless, was a man she had only seen before in pictures.  
  
"Daddy?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Pilot life-signs are dropping! Respiration failing!" Maya Ibuki called out. "We're losing her!"  
  
"We have no choice!" Misato said. "Cut all synchronization! Force eject the entry plug!"  
  
Lieutenant Tanaka pulled the emergency eject switch, but the plug did not eject. "The signal's not being received!" She yelled.  
  
"What?" Misato demanded.  
  
"The abort codes are being rejected!" Tanaka replied.  
  
"Oh God." Maya turned to Misato. "Do you think........?"  
  
Just then, Unit 01's graphs went insane. "Pulses are flowing backwards!" Tanaka screamed. "Nerve rejection across the board! The Signal Graph is reversing!"  
  
"It's happening again." Misato whispered.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Outside, wrapped in the Angel's deadly embrace, Unit 01 suddenly stirred. Its eyes began to glow with a light of their own. The Evangelion opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar of fury. Straining with all its might, the EVA pushed its arms away from its body, struggling against the Angel's massive strength. After nearly a minute of struggling, the EVA managed to bring its arms up in front of its chest.  
  
The Angel suddenly let out screech of surprise when Unit 01 dug its fingers into the Angel's thick hide. With another furious roar, Unit 01 pulled its arms apart. The Angel's grip loosened immediately as its body was torn in half. The EVA fell to its knees. The Angel's thick blood poured over Unit 01's shoulders, turning the street into a dark, crimson river. But the Evangelion wasn't finished yet. Hatred burned in its eyes. The Angel that had tried to kill it would suffer. And then it would die.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This is impossible!" Minako said, staring in disbelief at the screens in front of her. "The pilot is no longer synchronized! Unit 01 is acting without any interface! That just can't happen!"  
  
"No." Commander Katsuragi said quietly. "It can."   
  
"What?" Minako turned to face her superior.  
  
"This isn't the first time."   
  
* * * * *  
  
The Angel had been torn in half by the rampaging Evangelion. It moaned in pain as it tried to drag itself away from its attacker. The EVA turned and fell upon its enemy, tearing the Angel apart with its powerful fists. Huge gouts of blood flew through the air as Unit 01 tore at the Angel, spraying the surrounding buildings with splashes of the dark red liquid.  
  
The Angel weakly turned it's head toward Unit 01, summoning the last of its energy to attack the EVA. Before it could fire another energy blast, though, the EVA shoved one hand into the Angel's open mouth. Unit 01 grabbed the S2 Organ lodged in the Angel's throat and closed its fist, crushing the core to powder. The massive energies that had built up in the glowing sphere were released in a single instant, erupting into another giant, cross-shaped explosion that incinerated the Angel and sent Unit 01 flying. The EVA landed on its back hundreds of feet away from the explosion. The light went out of its eyes and it lay still, covered in its enemy's blood.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Control Room was eerily silent. Only four people in NERV's entire staff had ever seen anything like what had just happened. The new crew sat in silence, mesmerized by their first sight of the Evangelion's true colors. At one of the workstations, someone could be heard trying valiantly not to vomit.  
  
"Report." Toji said quietly. No one answered. "Report!"  
  
Lieutenant Tanaka was the first to move again. "The target has been.......vaporized." She said.  
  
"The Signal Graph is returning to normal!" Maya called out. "The neural connections are stabilizing!"  
  
"Michiru!" Misato cried. "Can you hear me?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru was woken up by Misato's voice calling her name. "Michiru! Can you hear me?"  
  
"Misato?" She asked weakly. She opened her eyes and saw a field of stars in front of her. Realizing that Unit 01 was lying on its back, she sat up; and immediately wished she hadn't. Before her was a scene that didn't belong in the real world. It was like a medieval painting of Hell. A giant crater marked the spot where the Angel had exploded. The last of its energy was slowly dissipating. The remaining energy illuminated the street far too well, though.   
  
Blood. It was everywhere. Thick and dark like some horrible crimson paint poured over the city. It covered the street and ran down the sides of the buildings. Everywhere Michiru looked, she saw red. She didn't want to look down, but something forced her to turn her eyes toward Unit 01. As she knew she would, she saw blood. Once a beautiful, royal purple, her EVA was now stained with the Angel's blood. Raising Unit 01's hands in front of her face, she saw the blood, felt it dripping from her fingers. And that was when she screamed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Michiru?" Michiru heard Misato say her name, but she did not turn. She could not take her eyes off of Unit 01. The EVA was locked in place. Jets of steaming hot water shot from the sides of the chamber, washing the dried blood off of it. Physically, Unit 01 was beginning to look like itself once more. But in her mind, Michiru knew that she would never see the Evangelion the same way again. Just this morning, she had thought of the EVA as something she had control over. Now she knew that she only controlled Unit 01 because the massive creature *allowed* itself to be controlled. And that frightened her, more than any Angel ever could.  
  
Misato stood next to her. "Someone from the Video Analysis Lab asked me to give these to you." She said, holding up the disk Kensuke had given Michiru, along with an unmarked DVD. Michiru barely even acknowledged them. She continued to stare at the EVA.  
  
"What is that thing, Misato?" She whispered, keeping her eyes trained on the Evangelion in front of her. "What the hell am I piloting?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
They didn't get home until Three A.M. the next morning. Michiru was exhausted, but she didn't want to sleep. She knew that if she closed her eyes, she would once again see Unit 01's hands in front of her, dripping gore.  
  
Instead, she went into the living room and put her new disk into Misato's DVD player. Moment's later, a shaky, slightly out of focus video began playing. Her parents and their friends sat in Misato's living room. Michiru did some quick math in her head and figured that her parents would have been fifteen years old when the video was made. Misato was there, so were Toji and his future wife, Hikari. Michiru barely registered the conversation that went on between her parents' friends. She concentrated instead on her parents themselves. Shinji Ikari sat on the sofa, quietly listening to the conversation around him, occasionally chiming in briefly but mostly remaining silent. He seemed to be a shy and reserved person, just like Misato had said. Her mother, Asuka, was the complete opposite. She seemed to have something to say about everything. The two of them didn't seem to be too interested in one another, though. In fact, at some points the two acted as if they could barely stand each other.   
  
Michiru smiled. The verbal sparring that went between her mother and father was actually kind of sweet, in a way. She could see why they ended up together. Even through their front of disinterest bordering on hostility, the attraction between them was obvious. For the moment her fears and anxieties about Unit 01 and the Angels were pushed out of her mind. The images of her parents, alive and well, held her total attention.   
  
The video was still playing an hour later when Misato found her curled up on the living room sofa, fast asleep.  
  
To Be Continued... 


	4. First Date EVA Rebellion!

Disclaimer: So let's do this quick. The original characters from EVA are theirs. The new character's I've introduced are mine. Thanks for your time.  
* * * * *  
Dedication: To Emily; because maybe if I dedicate a whole chapter to her, she won't take forever to read it!  
* * * * *  
Author's note: Stay tuned for a note from the author after the presentation.  
* * * * *  
  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:4- First Date/ EVA Rebellion!  
  
* * * * *  
  
--YOUR 'PLAN' FAILED.--  
  
--THE SIXTH CHILD LIVES.--  
  
--EVA NOW ACTS TO PROTECT HER.--  
  
"Yes." Keele said to the blank monoliths surrounding him. "That was.....unexpected."  
  
--WE ARE BEGINNING TO LOSE FAITH IN YOUR CONTROL OVER THIS SITUATION.--  
  
--YES. YOUR PREDICTIONS OF LATE HAVE FALLEN SOMEWHAT SHORT OF ACCURACY.--  
  
--YOU SAID THE SIXTH CHILD WOULD BE UNABLE TO PILOT EVANGELION, YET SHE DID. YOU SAID THE TWENTIETH ANGEL WOULD DESTROY HER, YET SHE LIVES.--  
  
--WE CAN NO LONGER COUNT ON THE ANGELS TO REMEDY THIS SITUATION FOR US.--  
  
"I'm not sure I approve of the implication that I have lost control." Keele said threateningly. "However, on one point I agree with you. It is time to take matters into our own hands."  
  
--THEN WE ARE IN AGREEMENT?--  
  
"Yes. How soon can it be done?" He asked.  
  
--THE 'SOFTWARE' IS ALREADY IN PLACE.--  
  
"And the Hardware?"  
  
--NOT CURRENTLY OPERATIONAL.--  
  
--THEY CAN BE MADE READY WITHIN TWO WEEKS.--  
  
"Very well." Keele said. "In two weeks, the Sixth Child dies."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So for next week I want you all to read Chapters three and four in the text and memorize the vocabulary words on page sixty." The professor began putting away his lecture materials.  
  
"Well that was fun." Claire said, stuffing her textbook into her backpack and standing up.   
  
"Oh yeah." Michiru said sarcastically. "Lots of fun."  
  
"Speaking of fun; I noticed you and Tai left together Friday." Claire said. "Anything going on there?"  
  
Michiru smiled. "He gave me a ride home."  
  
"And........?"  
  
"And that's it." Michiru said.  
  
"You two taking it slow?" Claire asked.  
  
"I wasn't aware we were 'taking it' at all." Michiru replied.  
  
"Aww, you're no fun." Claire teased.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So how did you're date with the Ice Princess go?" Akira asked jokingly as he and Tai gathered their supplies.  
  
"You call driving a girl home a date?" Tai asked.  
  
"That depends on what happened once you got there." Akira replied.  
  
"I dropped her off and drove to *my* home." Tai said.  
  
"That's it?" Akira asked. "I thought you liked her. Don't tell me you didn't try to shoplift a goodnight kiss, you stud."  
  
"I had enough trouble just talking to her without turning into an idiot." Tai said. "I'm pretty sure any chance of future 'kiss shoplifting' is out of the question."  
  
"Really? Then why does she keep looking over here?" Akira asked.  
  
Tai glanced over to where Michiru and Claire were getting ready to leave. Sure enough, just then Michiru turned her eyes toward them. When their eyes met, a smile came across Michiru's face. She waved at Tai. He would have waved back, but he was inexplicably paralyzed.  
  
Akira rolled his eyes dramatically. "Jeez. Call me when the kids are born." He muttered.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The entire senior staff of NERV was arrayed around a large conference table. Major Toji Suzahara represented the Tactical division. Captain Kensuke Aida spoke for the three Technical divisions. And Dr. Maya Ibuki represented the Medical division. As Commander, Misato presided over the meeting.  
  
"Well." She said. "I'll get right to the point. Today I received a call from the U.N. Secretary General. At Two P.M. Sunday afternoon, two weeks from now, the EVA Series will arrive in Tokyo 3."  
  
"That would be......?" Kensuke began.  
  
"The Mass Production Model Evangelions." Misato said. "Units 05 through 13."  
  
"Nine EVAs?" Kensuke said in disbelief. "What on Earth do we need that many EVAs for?"  
  
"We don't." Toji said. "We have Unit 01 and soon..."  
  
"Yes, I know." Misato cut him off. "And if I had my say, they wouldn't be sent to us. But as long as we still have 'you-know-what' down in the basement, the Angels will always come here. There's really no point in having EVAs anywhere else. The UN is scared to death of the Angels. They're just trying to make sure we have sufficient firepower."  
  
"You're not really going to use the EVA Series are you Commander?" Maya asked.  
  
"And if you are;" Kensuke added. "Where are we going to locate *nine* pilots? It's not exactly like they're easy to find."  
  
"The EVA Series uses the Dummy Plug System." Misato said reluctantly. "They don't need pilots."  
  
"WHAT?" Toji practically leaped out of his seat. "You can't be serious!"   
  
"I agree." Maya said. "The Dummy System is a failed experiment. It's too dangerous to use."  
  
"That's why we're not going to use it." Misato said. "We can't keep them from sending the EVAs to us. But nothing says we have to use them. So here's how it's going to work. We accept the EVAs graciously, but on the firm understanding that they will be used only as a last resort. Then we stick them in cryostasis and do our best to forget that we even have them."  
  
"I'd rather we didn't have to deal with them at all." Toji said. "Something about this just doesn't sit right."  
  
"I know." Misato said. "But, as always, we don't have a choice. On a related topic, how is the Special Project coming?"  
  
"The construction phase is essentially complete." Kensuke said. "But computer tests are only taking us so far. We won't really know if they work until we have pilots." He glanced at Dr. Ibuki.  
  
"We're working on it." She said defensively. "We still haven't found any basic criteria to test for. It's like trying to find a needle when we don't even know *which* haystack we're supposed to be looking in."  
  
"I know it's difficult." Misato apologized. "But it has to be done."  
  
"Don't worry, Commander." Maya said. "We *will* figure it out. It just might take longer than we thought."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Later that night, Maya sat in her office staring at a computer screen. She punched a few keys and opened a dialog with the Magi supercomputers. After typing her name, rank, and password, Maya was rewarded with access to the Magi. She thought for a moment, and then began typing.  
  
--Download NERV personnel data files--  
  
SPECIFY?  
  
Maya paused again. In it's thirty-year history, NERV had employed literally thousands of people at its Tokyo 3 headquarters alone. Fortunately, the test she was running only required information on a handful of those people.  
  
--Download NERV personnel data files:  
  
Ikari, Shinji  
Ikari, Asuka  
Ayanami, Rei  
Suzahara, Toji  
  
Maya looked over the short list for a moment. Then, on a hunch, she entered one final name onto the list.  
  
Ikari, Michiru--  
  
Less than a second later, another dialog box appeared on her screen.  
  
DATA DOWNLOADED FROM MELCHIOR.  
  
--Cross-reference data. Display significant similarities.-- She typed.  
  
The search only took a few moments.  
  
NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES NOTED. SUGGEST WIDENING SAMPLE GROUP.  
  
Maya sat back with a sigh. *So much for that* She thought. Suddenly she had an idea. It was so simple; Maya wondered why she never thought of it before. Unit 04. The American EVA had been in the testing phase when it vanished, so it must have had a pilot.   
  
--Search: Evangelion 04-- She typed.  
  
Her desktop terminal hummed briefly, then presented her with Unit 04's vitals.  
  
EVA 04  
-Commissioned 2014  
-Constructed by 2nd Branch, USA  
-Construction Completed 2015  
Pilot: Maxwell, Lea  
  
There it was! Maya switched back to her dialog with the Magi.  
  
--Add personnel data file: Maxwell, Lea and repeat cross-reference.--  
  
NO STATISTCALLY SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES FOUND. SUGGEST WIDENING SEARCH GROUP.  
  
"Damn." Maya muttered. Out of millions of people in the world, these six had been able to become EVA pilots. Why? What was it about them that set them apart? And were there others like them, waiting to be found?  
  
For everyone's sake, Maya hoped that there were. And that she could find them before it was too late.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Repairs to Unit 01 completed." A voice called over the loudspeakers in cage seven, where Evangelion Unit 01 was housed. "Unit 01 now entering first stage cooling and rejuvenation process."  
  
Michiru stood on the umbilical bridge that stretched in front of Unit 01's massive chest and looked up at the EVA's armored face. "I don't have a clue what you *really* are." She said quietly. "But I'm going to find out." She felt slightly absurd talking to an inanimate machine. Then again, it had become obvious to her that the Evangelion was far more than just a machine.  
  
It was odd. When she first saw the results of Unit 01's rampage, Michiru had been terrified of the EVA. But the more she thought about it, the more her fear gave way to curiosity. If the EVA had not gone out of control, the Angel would have killed her. Was it possible that Unit 01 had acted to protect her?   
  
She couldn't shake the thought that the EVA's behavior had been because of her. Then she remembered what she had seen just before she passed out. At the time, she had thought the vision of her father had been a herald of her own death. Now she was forced to wonder. Her father had been the pilot of Unit 01 years ago. How much of himself had he left behind in the EVA? Enough to protect his daughter? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part? Michiru didn't know enough about Unit 01 to make that kind of judgment. But she knew someone who did.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru decided to spring her question on Misato that night while she was cooking dinner. Michiru hadn't known much about how to cook before she moved to Tokyo 3. But thanks to Misato's....unique style of cooking, she had learned quickly.   
  
"Uh.....Misato?" She asked, turning away from the stove.  
  
"Yeah." Misato said.  
  
"Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Of course." Misato said. "What's the question?"  
  
"It's....about Unit 01." Michiru said.  
  
"What about it?" Misato asked.  
  
"Well. It's kind of hard to explain." Michiru began. "Just before it went.....berserk. As I was passing out, I.....I thought I saw....my father."  
  
"Your father?" Misato's eyes widened. "Why didn't you report it?"  
  
"Well.....at first...I wasn't even sure it really happened. And then I thought that....if I did see it, it was just in my head. I mean...I thought I was dying. I thought that maybe I just imagined it *because* I thought I was going to die." Michiru said.  
  
"And now you don't think so?" Misato asked.  
  
"Well....I just got to thinking about Unit 01. The EVA works by, synchronizing with the pilot's mind, right?" Misato nodded. "Well..... is it possible that....some.....echo of my father's mind was left when he piloted Unit 01? Or something like that?"  
  
"I......guess it's possible." Misato said evasively.  
  
"Misato?" Michiru sat down next to Misato. "If you know something, please tell me."  
  
Misato sighed. "When your father piloted Unit 01, it did the same thing, a couple of times."  
  
"It went berserk?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Yes." Misato nodded. "The last time was when Shinji fought the Fourteenth Angel. It.......ate the Angel, that's where Unit 01's core comes from. When it took the core, the power surge boosted Shinji's Synch Ratio over four hundred percent. The EVA......absorbed him into itself. We got him out, but it's possible that some...part of him, some echo, like you said, was left inside. Maybe that's what you saw."  
  
"It....did that?" Michiru's voice was suddenly very quiet. "It can do that?"  
  
"Not anymore!" Misato said quickly. "We fixed it. It can't happen again."  
  
Michiru silently returned to her cooking. Her conversation with Misato had failed to make her feel any better about piloting the EVA. In fact, she felt a lot worse.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Not hungry?" Claire asked. She and Michiru sat in the cafeteria. An untouched tray of food sat in front of Michiru. She nodded absently at Claire's question. "You're quiet today." Her friend said. "You feeling alright?"  
  
"I'm okay." Michiru said with a sigh. "I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately."  
  
"Work?" Claire asked. Michiru nodded. "Feel like talking about it?"  
  
"I'd love to." Michiru said. "Unfortunately......"  
  
"Not allowed?"  
  
"Sorry." Michiru said.   
  
"Don't worry about it." Claire replied. "Well hey, cheer up." She continued. "Today's Monday. And you know what that means."  
  
"I do?" Michiru asked.  
  
"It means you get to secretly sneak glances at Tai in English class." Claire said.  
  
"Are you absolutely determined to run this topic into the ground?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Damn; my plan has been exposed. I just want to know; why are you resisting so much? I mean it's pretty obvious you like the guy. And if Tai makes *his* feelings about you any more obvious, he'll be yelling them at passing strangers through a megaphone." Claire smiled. "So why haven't you two hooked up yet?"  
  
"I'm just not looking to 'hook up'." Michiru said. "With *anyone*."  
  
"You mean if Tai asked you, right now, you'd say 'no'?" Claire asked.  
  
"Well I'm fairly sure Tai isn't *going* to ask me anything so....." Michiru began.  
  
"C'mon Michiru." Claire was beginning to get indignant. "You know what I mean."  
  
"Off the record?"   
  
"What record?" Claire laughed.  
  
"You know what I mean." Michiru said.  
  
Claire sighed. "Fine. Fine." She finally relented. "Your secret dies with me."  
  
"Okay, I admit it." Michiru said. "*IF* Tai asked.....yes."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Captain Aida. Captain!"   
  
Kensuke turned to see a young man running down the hall toward him. He smiled slightly; the young man's uniform and hair were extremely disheveled. He wore the look of a man who hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. *Join the club, kid.* Kensuke thought grimly. His entire staff had been pulling double shifts lately, preparing Headquarters for the arrival of the EVA series. Everyone not involved in preparing the cryostasis chambers where the nine EVAs would be stored was working on the Special Project. *And we're understaffed to begin with.*  
  
"What is it........?"  
  
"Shima, Sir." The young man said, gasping for breath. "Corporal."  
  
"What can I do for you, Corporal Shima?" Kensuke asked.  
  
"Sir....they said....you're needed....." Shima struggled to speak and catch his breath at the same time.  
  
"Slow down, Corporal." Kensuke said. "Just breath."  
  
Corporal Shima nodded and took a moment. Once his breathing was back to normal, he spoke again. "Sir, they need you in the new cages. Something about refitting the safety locks for the new units."   
  
Kensuke sighed and nodded. *If it's not one thing, it's another.* He thought. "Okay." He finally said. "Go back and tell them I'll be there as soon as possible. Oh...and Corporal?"  
  
"Yes Sir?"  
  
"Next time, have them *call* me instead of making you run the marathon." Shima saluted and left in the same direction he had come from, barely keeping his speed below a run. Kensuke shook his head. *I really have to schedule these guys some actual sleep time.* He decided. *The caffeine just isn't working out.*   
  
Of course, he could have used some sleep himself. He'd spent the past week sleeping on a couch in the break room. An hour here, two hours there. He had given up on trying to go home for sleep early on. It was a good plan to put the EVA Series in storage. Implementing that plan was another story entirely. NERV's facilities weren't designed to accommodate nine Evangelions to begin with. On top of that, the design of the Mass Production Models differed greatly from other EVAs. The original restraints wouldn't hold them.   
  
In addition to modifying the five remaining unused EVA cages, four ordinance warehouses had to be completely remodeled into makeshift restraint cages. It was turning out to be a huge chore. Kensuke was beginning to share Toji's opinion. His life would be a lot easier if it didn't include the EVA Series.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru was looking through her textbook, waiting for class to begin, when a shadow fell across the page. She looked up and saw Tai standing next to her in the aisle. "Uh.....hi." She said.  
  
"Hey Tai. What's up?" Claire chimed in.  
  
"I.....need to talk...to Michiru." Tai said reluctantly  
  
"Okay." Claire smiled.  
  
"Um.....alone?" Tai asked.  
  
Claire sighed. "Fine." She said, standing up. "I'll just go stand over there in 'time out' until your done."  
  
"Thanks." Tai said quietly. Claire gave him a knowing wink and quickly walked out of the lecture hall. When they were alone, Michiru looked back at Tai.  
  
"You....want to sit down?" She asked.   
  
"Uh...sure." Tai said, sliding into the seat next to Michiru. "I.....I'm probably not going to get this right on the first try, so...just let me finish before you answer."  
  
"Okay." Michiru was a little confused. Tai never had this much difficulty talking to her.  
  
"I...can't stop thinking about you." Tai said. "I....okay no that's not right.....let me try again......I just....I really like......no.....I guess what I'm asking is......well......" He trailed off, blushing uncontrollably.  
  
Michiru smiled. "Tai?" She said.  
  
"Uh....yeah?"  
  
"You want to go out some time?" She asked.  
  
"What?" It took Tai a second to work out what had just happened. "I mean yes! Definitely!" He said quickly. "Uh.....is Saturday good?"  
  
Michiru thought for a moment. "I have to work every Saturday." She said. "But I usually get out around noon."  
  
"Hmmm." Tai frowned. "I have Soccer practice Saturday afternoons."  
  
"You play soccer?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Well I do." Tai said. "But on Saturday I help coach the Junior High team."  
  
"Wait." Michiru said, a smile spreading across her face. "The *girls* team?" She asked.  
  
"Uh...yeah." Tai said. Michiru was trying hard not to laugh. "What is it?" Tai asked.   
  
"Nothing." Michiru said, shaking her head. "Just....small world."  
  
"Um...okay." Tai said. "So Saturday's out. How about Sunday?"  
  
Michiru smiled. "Yeah." She said. "Sunday sounds good."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Misato!" Michiru called out.  
  
"Yeah?" Misato called back from her room.  
  
"I just want to make it clear that there are to be *NO* Angel attacks this Sunday. Okay?" Michiru said.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Misato said, stepping out into the hallway. "Although they're generally not quite so considerate. What's going on Sunday, if I may ask?"  
  
"Oh.....not much." Michiru teased.  
  
"C'mon." Misato said. "What is it? Hot date?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes." Michiru said, smiling.   
  
"Well have fun." Misato said. "Speaking of Sunday, I'll probably be at Headquarters all day. But if you're going out too, I guess it won't be a problem."  
  
* * * * *  
  
--THEY ARE READY.--  
  
--TRANSPORT WILL BEGIN IN TEN HOURS.--  
  
--VERY WELL.--  
  
--THE PROGRAM WILL ACTIVATE FIVE HOURS INTO TRANSPORT.--  
  
--SOON.........--  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear. Michiru rose early and spent at least an hour trying to decide what to wear. She eventually settled on her blue sundress, which had thankfully come back from the cleaners bearing no evidence of its LCL bath.   
  
Tai had offered to pick Michiru up, but that would have involved Tai seeing the apartment. Despite Michiru's best efforts, the place was never quite presentable. Tai had seemed equally reluctant to have her come to his home. In the end, they had agreed to meet at the Student Union and decide where to go from there.   
  
Michiru made it to the Union right on time, a few minutes before noon. Tai was already there, looking a little nervous. He stood up as she approached. "Hi." He called out.  
  
"Hi." Michiru replied, smiling.   
  
"Uh...you look......great." He said.  
  
Michiru blushed slightly. "Thanks." She said.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Meanwhile, somewhere above China, nine specially equipped carrier planes flew toward Japan. They had taken off from all over the globe. Two each from Germany and the United States, one from England, and one from Israel. Those six had met up with the final three in China and were currently on a course to Tokyo 3.   
  
"How's the cargo holding up Lieutenant? No problems?" The pilot of one of the American planes asked his cargo officer for what had to be the hundredth time since takeoff four and a half hours before.  
  
"Don't worry Captain." The lieutenant said with a laugh. "Big Ugly's not going anywhere. You just concentrate on getting us there."  
  
"Roger that." The Captain replied. "Current ETA to Tokyo 3; one hour, twenty-four minutes."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Refitting completed. Ready to begin restraint and cooling." Applause broke out among the Tech officers arrayed on the umbilical bridge in the newly completed restraint cage.  
  
"Congratulations Ladies and Gentlemen." Kensuke addressed his staff. "We are finished with..." He glanced at his watch. "One whole hour to spare." Another round of applause went through the group. "But...." He paused, letting the cheers die down. "But our work is not done yet. Everybody take five. Then we're going to start getting all of the cages ready for immediate cryostasis. I want all nine of these EVAs in permanent lockdown within an hour of arrival."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Keele Lorenz sat in the darkened conference chamber, listening to the reports from the transport planes.   
  
*ETA to Tokyo 3; one hour.*  
  
--IT IS TIME.--  
  
--PREPARE TO ACTIVATE?--  
  
Keele smiled. Any one of them could activate the program at any time. But they would wait for his order. He sighed. It was time to end it. Keele had spared the girl's life once before, killing infants wasn't his style. He didn't *enjoy* killing grown men and women. But this was a special circumstance and the Sixth Child had not left him any other choice. The little bitch was becoming a major thorn in his side. It was once again necessary to remove her from the equation. This time for good.  
  
"Activate."  
  
* * * * *  
  
High above the Sea of Japan, nine Evangelions stirred in their moorings.   
  
"Captain!" The cargo officer in the American plane yelled into his headset. "It's an Emergency! THIS THING'S MOVING!"   
  
The horrible sound of metal being twisted and rent filled the cargo hold as the massive EVA shook and struggled against the bindings that held it in place.   
  
"We've got to drop it!" The lieutenant yelled. "It's going to tear us apart!"  
  
The other pilots obviously had the same problem. Looking out to his left, he saw EVA's dropping out of the planes next to him. "DO IT!" He yelled. The Lieutenant pulled the emergency handle next to him and the restraints holding the EVA blew apart. The giant machine fell out of the cargo hold and plummeted toward the ocean below.  
  
Within seconds, all nine Evangelions had been jettisoned from their respective transports. As the crewmen watched in horror, giant, feathered wings unfolded from each unit's back. The wings caught air and held the massive creatures aloft.   
  
"Mayday! Mayday! The Cargo has broken free! I repeat! The EVA Series is out of control!" The American pilot tried to send a distress signal, but found his radio jammed.   
  
"Look!" The copilot pointed out the front windshield; the nine EVAs had flown in front of the transports. They turned and flew toward the defenseless planes, brandishing huge, double-bladed swords.   
  
* * * * *  
  
*Mayday! Mayday! The Cargo has broken free! I repeat! The EVA Series is out of control!*  
  
*Look!*  
  
*My God! They're coming right at us!*  
  
*If anyone can hear this, we need assistance immediately.....*  
  
*It's too late! Here they come!*  
  
*Oh Jesus! SOMEONE HELP US!*  
  
The next communication did not contain spoken words; only the horrible sound of men screaming in terror. After that, there was only static.   
  
--IT IS DONE.--  
  
--VERY WELL. BEGIN THE OPERATION.--  
  
--SET TARGET TO TOKYO 3.--  
  
"Now we wait for NERV to make their move."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The EVA Series hovered in midair, flapping their huge wings to stay aloft. The flaming wreckage of their former transports fell out of the sky and splashed into the ocean below.   
  
The Evangelions waited, not moving except for the flapping necessary to maintain lift. Then, as one, they turned. They had received a directive from their masters. Without a sound, they turned and flew east.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Looking back later, Michiru would realize that she had been having too good a time. She and Tai had come across a free concert being held in a park near the campus. For a while, they simply sat and listened to the music. When the concert ended, they took a walk in the park. Michiru was thrilled to discover that she could hold a thoroughly enjoyable conversation with Tai. He *definitely* wasn't like other guys.   
  
Michiru wasn't sure at what point they began holding hands. Nor could she recall whether Tai had taken her hand in his or vice versa. It didn't matter. What mattered was that it was right. She was perfectly willing, even eager, to walk hand in hand with him through the woods that covered the park's western end.   
  
"So you're going to be a doctor, huh?" Michiru asked as they stopped and sat on a nearby bench.  
  
"Well, that's the idea." Tai said, smiling.  
  
"So then what's with the soccer?" She asked.  
  
"Well.....I've been playing since I was a kid." He said reluctantly. "See....my Dad played, he was really good too.....so I hear. I didn't know him. I guess I play because it makes me feel.....I don't know.....connected to him somehow. Like he's not totally gone." He smiled. "I guess it doesn't make much sense."  
  
"No." Michiru said quietly. "It does. I...I get it."  
  
"So what about you?" Tai asked, trying to change the subject. "What do you want to do? Once you get out of NERV, I mean."  
  
Michiru sighed. "I don't know." She said. "I....may be in for a while. I really don't have any idea what I want to do with the rest of my life." She couldn't tell Tai what she really thought. She couldn't tell him of her darkest fear; that the 'rest of her life' might not be very long.  
  
"How did you get into NERV?" Tai asked.  
  
"Well...my parents worked there....before they died." Michiru replied. "So...Misato took me in to work there after I left the orphanage. She was a friend of theirs."  
  
"That's great." Tai said. "I mean...it's good to have someone like that. You know, someone who really cares about you. It's rare." Michiru thought she sensed a strange note in Tai's voice. She couldn't quite place it. It was almost like....sadness, or perhaps longing. "Sorry." He said, looking away. "I didn't mean to get...heavy."  
  
"It's okay." Michiru said gently, placing a comforting hand on his arm. Tai looked up and smiled.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"What happened?" Misato demanded.  
  
"Unknown." Lieutenant Tanaka replied. "The transports just vanished."  
  
"They vanished?" Misato asked.  
  
"Yes Ma'am." The young woman replied. "One minute they were there, the next minute they completely disappeared from radar."  
  
"Engage radar." Misato ordered. The screen in front of them lit up showing a circular radar map. The entire map was blank, not a single item appeared on it. "Switch to waveform monitor." She said. Immediately, nine red dots appeared on the screen, heading rapidly toward Tokyo 3.   
  
"AT Fields!" Minako said. "Are those Angels?"  
  
"No." Misato said in a voice filled with dread. "The pattern is Red. Those are EVAs."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I had a really great time today." Michiru said as she and Tai walked back to the Student Union.  
  
"Yeah." Tai agreed, smiling. "So did I."  
  
They stopped for a moment when they reached the edge of the woods. "I....have a confession." Michiru said.  
  
"Oh?"   
  
"Yeah." Michiru continued reluctantly. "I was...kind of nervous about coming here today. I don't usually get along well with guys. Well I guess you probably noticed that."  
  
Tai nodded. "Yeah. I think you really scared Akira a couple of times."  
  
"Yeah well, I don't always think before I say stuff. I've been told I get that from my mother." Michiru said. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that...for a while I thought about not coming today. But....I'm glad I did."  
  
"That's your 'confession'?" Tai asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Michiru, I was nervous about today too." He said. "It's nothing to apologize for." He smiled. "I was afraid you were about to tell me that you're an assassin or something."  
  
Michiru laughed. "An assassin?"  
  
Tai began laughing too. "Well you're not allowed to talk about what you do at NERV." He said. "It didn't seem *likely* but you never know."  
  
"Well don't worry." Michiru said, smiling. "I don't kill people for a living." She had to fight not to put extra emphasis on *people*. Tai had hit a lot closer to the mark than he might have realized. In a way, she *was* a professional killer. Her targets just weren't human. "Anyway, the important thing is that I'm really glad I got to spend today with you. Because.....I like you...a lot."  
  
"You...do?" Michiru smiled and nodded. Tai seemed at a loss for words. "I...like you too." He finally said.   
  
"So...." For a moment, an uncomfortable silence passed between them. "I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
For another long moment, it seemed that they both stood still, looking at each other. Neither was aware of moving toward the other, but suddenly their faces were only inches apart. Michiru reached up gently, brushing an errant strand of raven hair out of Tai's face. In the process, their faces came even closer. Their lips were practically touching and Michiru felt the urge to remove the remaining distance between them. She got the feeling that Tai felt the same way. She slowly brought her lips toward his. At the last moment, just when they were about to make contact, she heard an alarm ring out from across the park.  
  
*Attention!* A recorded voice played over the loudspeakers. *A state of special emergency has been declared for this and all adjacent districts. All civilians are instructed to report to their designated shelters immediately. Repeat: A state of special emergency has been declared....* The message continued to play as the alarms wailed in the background.  
  
"What's going on?" Tai wondered aloud.  
  
"Oh no." Michiru whispered. "No, no, no....." She looked over Tai's shoulder and saw a plain black sedan racing toward them from across the park. The car screeched to a halt and two men in plain black suits got out. Michiru recognized them; not the men themselves but the job they performed. She had quickly learned how to ignore the Section 2 bodyguards who followed her everywhere, but she was, nevertheless, constantly aware of their presence.  
  
"Get in the car, Private." One of them said. "We have to take you back to HQ." Michiru nodded and walked toward the car.  
  
"Hey wait! What's all this about?" Tai asked, making a move to follow her. One of the Section 2 agents stopped him.  
  
"This is an emergency, sir." The man said. "You had better get to a shelter immediately."  
  
"Where are you taking Michiru?" Tai yelled.  
  
"*Private Ikari* is needed at headquarters."   
  
"Wait!" Michiru called out. "We can't just leave him here! He won't make it to a shelter in time! We have to take him with us!"  
  
"Negative." The first agent said. "I can't authorize a security risk like that."  
  
"*I'm* authorizing it!" Michiru yelled.  
  
"You don't have the authority to....."  
  
"Need I remind you *Agent* that this is an emergency situation and I outrank you?" At her full height Michiru still had to look up to meet the agent's eyes. Yet the man seemed to shrink back as Michiru got in his face. "If I say to bring him with us, you *will* follow my orders!"  
  
The agent looked over at his partner but the other man shook his head as if to say *This one's all yours buddy*. "You'll......take full responsibility?" Michiru nodded. "....Fine." He finally said. "Bring him."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What's going on, Michiru?" Tai asked as they sped through Tokyo 3.   
  
"It's an attack." Michiru said quietly. "Like the ones before.  
  
"What do they need you for?" Tai asked.  
  
"You know what." She whispered.  
  
The realization hit Tai almost instantly. The Robot. *That* was Michiru's job at NERV. She piloted the giant robot that had destroyed the last two invaders. He couldn't believe it. He simply could not reconcile the image of the giant, rampaging machine with the girl he had just spent the afternoon with. "Why?" He asked. "Why do they need you to pilot that......thing? Don't they have soldiers, or.....?"  
  
Michiru shook her head. "I have to pilot it." She said.   
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I'm the only one who can." The car pulled up in front of the main entrance to the Geofront. Michiru jumped out quickly. "Take him to Central Dogma and explain the situation to the Commander." She ordered the Section 2 agents. Without another word, she turned and ran from the car, sliding her ID card through a scanner and disappearing through a huge sliding door.  
  
Tai didn't really notice his surroundings as the agents led him through NERV Headquarters. He couldn't get his mind off of Michiru. He couldn't even begin to imagine how she must have felt, going into battle all alone. Her courage and bravery were amazing. Tai had to wonder if, in the same situation, he would be able to do what she did.   
  
"What the hell?" He heard a voice call out. Looking up, Tai found himself in a huge, multi-level room set up like the bridge of a warship. A huge view screen and holographic map, nearly the size of a soccer field, filled the center of the chamber. Tai saw a middle-aged man storming toward him. The man's dark black hair was streaked with gray and left hand seemed to be made of metal. "Who is this?" The man demanded.  
  
"He was with Private Ikari, Major." One of the agents replied. "She ordered us to bring him here."  
  
"And you did!?"   
  
"Well.....she *is* a superior officer, Sir."   
  
The older man sighed. He looked at Tai. "What's your name kid?" He asked.  
  
"Uh...Tai." Tai stammered. "Tai Matsumoto."  
  
"Well Mr. Matsumoto, we have a bit of a crisis on our hands here. So just find someplace to sit that isn't in the way and don't touch anything; in fact, try not to look at anything either."  
  
"Uh...yes sir." Tai said. As the Major walked back to the main work area, Tai suddenly realized that he knew the man. He had been present at every game the Junior High Girls' soccer team had played in the two years Tai had been assistant coach.   
  
That train of thought was derailed when Michiru's appeared on the giant screen in the front of the room. She wore an expression somewhere between anxiety and fear.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"Okay." Michiru said. "I'm ready. Where's the Angel?"  
  
Misato's face appeared before her. "This....isn't an Angel." She said.  
  
"Huh?" Misato looked down and pressed a few buttons on the panel in front of her. Immediately a holographic screen if front of Michiru displayed an Evangelion. "What? An EVA?"   
  
"Not just one....." Misato said.  
  
"How many?" Misato was silent. "Misato! How many are there?" Michiru demanded.  
  
"Nine." Misato whispered. "There's nine of them."  
  
"NINE!?" Michiru yelled. "You want me to take on *nine* EVAs by myself?"  
  
"I'm sorry Michiru. You're the only one who can stop them."  
  
"But what about the pilots?" Michiru asked. "You don't expect me to *kill* them do you?"  
  
"Don't worry." Misato said. "There are no pilots. Just kill the EVAs."  
  
"And how do you suggest I do that?"  
  
"They heal incredibly fast, but they have S2 Cores just like Unit 01. Use the same tactic you use for Angels. Destroy the cores and they're dead." Toji spoke up.  
  
Michiru sighed. Nine EVAs. There was no way she could defeat nine Evangelions on her own. "Daddy. If you *are* in here, I could really use some help on this one." She whispered. "Okay." She spoke up. "Get me out there."  
  
The deserted field on the outskirts of Tokyo 3 was already a battlefield by the time Unit 01 burst out of the Geofront. Missiles and guns fired all around her, concentrating on nine objects in the sky. Even from afar, Michiru could see glowing, octagonal AT Fields rise up in front of the approaching EVAs. Within seconds, the EVAs were above her, circling in the air like giant carrion birds.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai stared at the screen in front of him in terror. The giant purple robot stood alone on the deserted battlefield. Tai could only assume that Michiru was inside. She was surrounded by nine other robots, each easily as large as her own. Tai couldn't make out any details of the robots except that they were all white and each held a huge, double-bladed sword.   
  
Despite the warning he had received, Tai was drawn to the screens. Besides, no one seemed to notice him as he stepped forward to get a closer look. He felt fear creeping into him. From what he could see, Michiru was hopelessly outnumbered. It wasn't fair. Why were they making her fight alone?  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru had never been so frightened in her life. Neither of the Angels she had fought had been as terrifying as the EVAs circling above her. As their flight paths brought them closer and closer to the ground, Michiru got a good look at her new enemy....and had to fight not to turn and run.  
  
Michiru had always thought of Unit 01 as majestic, but she knew that most people found it unattractive, if not downright hideous. But compared to the EVA Series, Unit 01 was a vision of absolute beauty. The basic shape of the Mass Production Models was similar to Unit 01, but instead of hard metal armor, they were covered with thick, leathery skin; pale white, like something that had been drained of blood and left dead for a few days. The armored plates that rose over Unit 01's shoulders were absent, and of course they had huge wings sprouting from their backs; but the main difference, and their most hideous feature, were their heads.   
  
To begin with, it was hard to tell where their necks ended and their heads began. Unit 01 had a somewhat human head sitting on its shoulders. The heads of the EVA Series resembled those of a snake more than a human. Each head was dominated by a huge mouth full of wicked-looking teeth. The EVAs almost seemed to be grinning as they touched down, surrounding her on all sides. But the horrible, grinning mouths weren't even the worst part of the heads. The worst thing was that none of them had eyes. There were deep creases in the skin of their heads where eyes should have been, but the eyes themselves were missing. Despite their lack of eyes, the EVAs were far from blind. All of them seemed to be staring directly at Michiru, as if they could see straight through Unit 01's armor and into the entry plug.  
  
Suddenly, the grin on one of their faces spread into a smile that reflected, not joy, but pure evil and malicious intent. Michiru could tell the EVA was about to attack. She wasn't going to give it the chance.  
  
Michiru rushed the grinning monster, raising her rifle into firing position as she ran. The white EVA's grin grew even wider. It raised its AT Field and stood still, just like Michiru had hoped it would. At the last second, she dropped the rifle and engaged her progressive knife, swinging it with deadly efficiency.  
  
Even on the EVA's inhuman face, Michiru could see panic. Her enemy tried to raise its sword but it was too late. The arm that held the sword flew away in a shower of blood. The EVA's scream of rage and pain was horrible; chillingly alien, yet at the same time, disturbingly human.  
  
Michiru forced herself to shut all the disturbing aspects of her enemies out of her mind. The only way she was going to survive was to ignore how much the EVA Series frightened her. Then she could wipe them, one by one, off the face of the Earth. So she ignored the chilling screams from her victim and instead plunged her knife into its chest, where she hoped its core was held. Sure enough, the EVA's scream increased in volume and pitch for a few seconds, and then fell silent. It continued to struggle, but its life was bleeding out.  
  
*One down.* Michiru thought. That happy thought was snuffed out as it's continuation crashed down upon her. *Eight more to go.*  
  
The dying EVA lost its balance and toppled forward. Michiru tried to move out of the way but there was no time. The giant body fell on top of her. That saved Michiru's life. As they fell, Michiru saw two more of the white EVAs above her. They folded their wings and dove toward her, holding their swords in front of them. The only thing that saved her from being impaled was the half-dead EVA lying on top of her own.  
  
The huge swords ripped through the EVA, causing it to scream again. Its "comrades" seemed more annoyed than anything else. They pulled their swords in opposite directions, tearing their unfortunate brother in half at the waist. Hot, red blood rained down on Unit 01 along with hundreds of feet of coiled entrails.  
  
The heat and weight of the EVA's ropy innards, and their slippery texture, made Michiru feel unclean in a way she couldn't quite describe. She scooted backwards, praying that she wouldn't become entangled in the massive intestines. Realizing that the other EVAs had yet to attack, she looked up.  
  
The Evangelions were still shaking their huge swords, trying to shake off the remains of their fallen companion. As Michiru looked on, one of the EVAs accidentally bumped the other's head with its unwieldy weapon. The reaction was immediate and surprising. The EVA that had been hit turned on the offender, slashing with its own sword. The other responded in kind and the two fell upon each other in a blind frenzy, tearing and slashing; pulling each other apart until both lay in bloody heaps.  
  
The soldier in Michiru, a part of her that had been growing since her first battle, if only as a necessity for survival, filed away what she had just seen. The EVA Series only *seemed* to present a unified enemy. They did not work as a team and they were short tempered, they would kill each other if provoked. There had to be a way she could use that to her advantage. She probably would have found a way if a shadow had not fallen across the scene in front of her. Michiru instinctively dove to the side as another one of the white demons brought its gigantic sword down where she had been standing.   
  
Unfortunately, Michiru didn't dive far enough to the side. The blade caught Unit 01's right arm just below the elbow. Michiru cried out. She almost thought she saw her own forearm fall away, but when she blinked her arm was intact. But the pain remained. Her attacker almost seemed to be laughing, its death's-head grin spread from one side of its inhuman face to another. Michiru screamed and tried to crawl away as the EVA raised its huge sword once again....  
  
* * * * *  
  
"THE RIGHT ARM HAS BEEN SEVERED!"   
  
The control room degenerated into chaos instantly. People ran back and forth, shouting orders and typing furiously at various consoles. On top of it all, Tai heard Michiru screaming. Her voice was tinny over the radio but the pain and terror it contained was heart wrenching.  
  
She was being beaten, not just beaten, killed. Tai turned away from the giant screens. He had just found Michiru; he couldn't bear to lose her like this. He couldn't stand here, helpless, and watch her die. Normally someone would have probably stopped him from running out of the control room, but no one did. He was sure they had all forgotten he was there at all.   
  
He ran through a door that he thought would lead back out into the hallway. Instead he found himself in a small elevator. There was nothing to do except press the single button in front of him. He certainly didn't want to go back into the control room and hear Michiru screaming in terror and pain.  
  
The elevator shot down extremely fast. Within seconds, it reached the bottom and the door slid open. Tai stepped out onto a bridge spanning a huge chamber filled with a dark red liquid. Tai was halfway across the bridge when before he noticed a huge presence next to him. He turned and found himself looking into a giant face. It was another robot!  
  
"Well......" Tai whispered. "Hello."  
  
To be continued....  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
Well I'm sure everyone recognizes this chapter's enemy. And if you don't, then get off your lazy butt and go see End of Evangelion! :) I think this falls under the "characters from the original series" clause of the disclaimer. I just felt the EVA Series was too good an enemy to not use them. I just didn't want people thinking that I was trying to pretend *I* invented them. They were created by Gainax and Anno. I'm just using them for my own sinister purposes. 


	5. The Battle of Tokyo 3!

* * * * *  
Legal Stuff: Well I'd like to think that anyone who's made it this far would already *know* that I don't own EVA, its characters, symbols, etc etc. But just in case, I'd like to say right now that I don't. Oh yeah and I *do* own the characters I made. You'll know them by having never seen them before now.  
* * * * *  
Dedication: To my constant, faithful, eternally patient pre-reader. You all know her as Kristen Elizabeth. But I just call her Ris.  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:5- The Battle of Tokyo 3  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
"THE RIGHT ARM HAS BEEN SEVERED!"   
  
The control room degenerated into chaos instantly. People ran back and forth, shouting orders and typing furiously at various consoles. On top of it all, Tai heard Michiru screaming. Her voice was tinny over the radio but the pain and terror it contained was heart wrenching.  
  
She was being beaten, not just beaten, killed. Tai turned away from the giant screens. He had just found Michiru; he couldn't bear to lose her like this. He couldn't stand here, helpless, and watch her die. Normally someone would have probably stopped him from running out of the control room, but no one did. He was sure they had all forgotten he was there at all.   
  
He ran through a door that he thought would lead back out into the hallway. Instead he found himself in a small elevator. There was nothing to do except press the single button in front of him. He certainly didn't want to go back into the control room and hear Michiru screaming in terror and pain.  
  
The elevator shot down extremely fast. Within seconds, it reached the bottom and the door slid open. Tai stepped out onto a bridge spanning a huge chamber filled with a dark red liquid. Tai was halfway across the bridge before he noticed a huge presence next to him. He turned and found himself looking into a giant face. It was another robot!  
  
"Well......" Tai whispered. "Hello."  
  
He must have said some kind of password without realizing it, because an instant later, the robot's eyes glowed briefly. The armor on its back opened up and a large metal tube slid out. A hatch on the front of the tube slid open, revealing a large, padded seat inside.   
  
"You've got to be kidding." Tai said.  
  
The giant face did not respond.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"We just monitored a power surge in cage eight." Lieutenant Kusanagi called out.  
  
"Now's not the time!" Misato snapped. On the main screen, Unit 01 was frantically scooting backwards to escape the pursuing EVAs, a process made more difficult by the loss of its right arm. "Michiru!" She said into the video link. "Get out of there! Use Escape Route 99."  
  
"Understood." Michiru replied through gritted teeth.  
  
"But there's still six of them out there." Tanaka said. "What are we going to do?"  
  
"I don't know." Misato said. "But we can't let Michiru stay out there with Unit 01 in its current condition."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru grasped the ragged stump of Unit 01's right arm with its remaining hand, trying to stanch the flow of blood. She stood up and turned to retreat. She barely made it three steps before another pale white EVA dropped out of the sky in front of her. Like all the others, it held a huge, double-bladed sword in its hands. Her progressive knife was still clutched in Unit 01's right hand, wherever that was. *Six of them left, all with those swords; and I don't even have my knife anymore.* She thought. *Not exactly fair odds.*  
  
Michiru ducked as the white EVA swung its sword at Unit 01. She rolled out of the way, planning a new course to the nearest escape shaft. "Misato!" She yelled. "99's a no-go. Where's the next...SHIT!" She threw herself to the ground as yet another EVA took a swing at her. "Damn it!" She screamed. "They're not going to let me out!" She suddenly found herself running frantically, dodging every few seconds. The EVAs were all around her, and she was beginning to lose hope. After all, she couldn't run forever.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai stared at the robot before him. Somehow he had made it open up its cockpit. But how? And then there was the bigger question. What should he do about it? Should he get inside? He had no idea how to pilot the robot. On the other hand, Michiru was up there alone, fighting for her life; and losing. He made his decision. A tray next to him held a few pairs of hair clips like the ones Michiru was wearing on the video screens. Tai grabbed a pair and put them on, just in case they were important. Then he climbed up the robot's back and into the cockpit.   
  
"Okay." He said. "What now?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"They're not going to let me out!" Michiru screamed.  
  
"Just run!" Toji yelled. "We're trying to use the rocket launchers to draw them away."  
  
"WELL IT'S NOT WORKING!"  
  
She was right. The EVAs were completely impervious to the rockets. They ignored the assault and kept pursuing Unit 01.   
  
"Major!" Kusanagi yelled.  
  
"If this is about cage eight, just skip it!" Toji yelled at the younger man.   
  
"Sir, I *really* think you should take a look at this." The lieutenant insisted. "There's a huge power surge coming from the cage."  
  
"Lieutenant....." Toji began.  
  
"Wait!" Kensuke cut him off. "Did you say cage *eight*?"  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
Kensuke turned to Dr. Ibuki. "Turn on Unit 14's monitors!" He said.  
  
"But it's not activated." Maya protested.  
  
"Just turn them on!" Kensuke yelled.  
  
Maya nodded and pulled up the data graphs. "My God...." She said. "65 percent synchronization? What the hell's going on?"  
  
"Someone's in there." Toji realized. "Open Unit 14's video monitor!"  
  
"Uh......well." Kensuke said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The construction schedule was pushed back to refit the cages. We.......haven't installed the video monitors yet. All we've got is audio."  
  
"Well then open that!" Toji ordered. "We need to know who's in there."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So now what?" Tai said to himself. Before he was even finished speaking, the hatch above him slid closed. He felt the cockpit sliding down into the robot. Seconds later, a thick liquid began to fill the small chamber. Tai suddenly realized that he had made a big mistake. He had done something wrong and now he was in a locked tube, about to drown in some kind of disgusting yellow slime.  
  
Tai held his breath as long as he could before finally gulping in a lungful of the yellow liquid. Amazingly, instead of the pain he expected drowning to cause, he felt the cool, refreshing sensation of air rushing into his lungs. Somehow, he could breath this strange slime.   
  
The surprises just kept coming. The blank metal walls of the cockpit began to glow. Huge bands of color and light flashed across the walls for a few seconds. Suddenly, the walls became clear, allowing Tai to see the hanger in front of him. Tai felt his arms and legs falling asleep, the rest of his body also seemed to be going numb.  
  
Before Tai could fully grasp, or even partially grasp, what was happening, a voice rang out in the cockpit. "This is to the person inside Evangelion Unit 14. Identify yourself immediately!" A woman's voice demanded.  
  
"Uh.....this is Tai......um....Tai Matsumoto." He said reluctantly.  
  
"Matsumoto?" The woman asked.  
  
"What?" A man's voice interrupted. "This *isn't* what I meant by 'don't touch anything'!"  
  
"I'm sorry sir." Tai said. "It just opened up on its own and I got inside."  
  
"And then it activated on its own?" The man asked.  
  
"Yes sir?"  
  
"It can't do that, kid. Tell us the truth."  
  
"That *is* the truth! I swear!" Tai said. "I just sat down in the seat and the rest just.....happened."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Are you buying this?" Toji asked Misato.  
  
"I don't know." Misato said.  
  
"Well *something* happened." Maya said. "Unit 14 is active. And that boy is synchronized."  
  
"But.....65 percent?" Toji said. "That can't be right. That's higher than Michiru!"  
  
"Oh God! Michiru!" They had almost forgotten that Michiru was still in the thick of it. All eyes turned to the main screen, where Unit 01 was still frantically dodging attacks from the EVA Series.   
  
"I can't keep this up much longer!" The girl screamed. "Do something!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"SEND ME OUT THERE!" Tai yelled.  
  
"Are you crazy?" The man on the radio said. "You'd be killed!"  
  
Tai considered that for a moment. In all likelihood, what the man said was true. He had never seen anything even remotely like this robot before. It probably took years of training just to master the controls. On the other hand, if he did nothing, Michiru would definitely die. Besides, something told him it would be all right. Tai couldn't explain it to the others so he didn't even try. He just knew, somehow, that he *could* pilot the robot.   
  
"Please!" He begged. "I can save her! Please let me help her!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato sighed, weighing her options. She hated making decisions like this. "Move Unit 14 into launch position." She finally said.  
  
"Are you serious, Commander?" Toji asked. "That kid can't pilot an EVA!"  
  
"I don't know about that." Maya interrupted. "He's synchronized at 65 percent. Who knows *what* he can do?"  
  
"The EVA responded to him." Misato said. "That's the only explanation that makes sense. And if it did that, then maybe he *can* pilot it, especially if we help him. Either way.....he's our only chance at saving Michiru."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Tai?" The woman who had spoken before came back on the radio.  
  
"Yes?" Tai said.  
  
"We're going to launch Unit 14. All you have to do to pilot it is relax and move like normal. Now this is *very* important: Do not engage the other EVAs in combat! Just get to Unit 01 and help Michiru get to the escape route. She'll know where that is."  
  
"Okay." Tai said. Now that he had made his decision, he began to feel the first twinges of fear creeping into him. He was about to be sent into battle. He didn't mind giving his life to save Michiru, if it came to that. But he didn't want to get in the way or make things worse for her with his lack of experience.  
  
"You might want to hold onto something." Another man said. Before Tai could respond, explosive charges detonated under the robot's feet. Immense g-forces pressed down on him as he shot upward, emerging seconds later in a field outside Tokyo 3. Tai would have fallen backwards if not for the restraints holding Unit 14 to the launch pad. Staring straight at him, grinning like a demon, was a pale white face.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru was running out of energy. Every three or four steps she had to dodge a swing from the EVA series' giant swords. Fortunately, the white EVAs were not working together; or they would have cut her down already.  
  
She was doing all right until two of the EVAs happened to swing at the same instant. Michiru just barely avoided both swords. She didn't have too much time to plan her dodge, however. Unit 01 tripped over its own feet and fell to the ground, throwing up a cloud of grass and dirt. When the dust cleared, Michiru looked up and saw one of the EVA's looming over her. That was it. She couldn't run anymore. They had her.  
  
Suddenly, her view was blocked by something huge and black shooting out of the ground between Unit 01 and her attacker. In her panic, she had barely noticed the EVA lift in front of her. Now she found herself looking at the back of an Evangelion. The EVA looked similar to Unit 01 but its armor was flat black. Michiru stood up and realized that the new EVA was huge. Well, huge was relative; Unit 01 itself was hundreds of feet tall. But this new EVA had to be at least twenty-five feet taller than even Unit 01.   
  
"Who is that?" Michiru asked.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Should we tell her?" Minako asked.  
  
Commander Katsuragi shook her head. "No." She said. "They'll never get out of there alive if Michiru's distracted by being worried about him."  
  
Major Suzahara opened the audio link to Unit 14's entry plug. "Tai, were releasing the safety locks now. Unit 01 is behind you. Move out!" He punched another button and Michiru's face appeared on-screen.  
  
"Who is that?" She asked again.  
  
"There's no time." He replied. "They're on our side, that's the important part. Now find the nearest escape route and get to it!"  
  
The white Evangelion raised its sword high in the air, getting ready to bring it down on the giant black EVA. As she had been in her first fight, the pilot appeared to be unable to move the EVA. "Look out!" Michiru screamed, lunging at the big EVA and throwing it to the ground.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai was paralyzed. The hideous face before him had stolen his power to move. The monster raised its huge sword over its head, but Tai was still too terrified to move. Suddenly he felt a huge weight slam into his back. He fell to the ground. Looking up, he saw the armored face of Michiru's robot looking down at him. Behind them, the white robot was lifting its sword again. With almost balletic speed and grace, Michiru's mech pivoted its waist and pointed its shoulders at the attacker. As Tai looked on, amazed, the plates on its shoulders opened and a volley of huge spikes exploded out of both, embedding themselves in the ugly white creature's chest before the beast even had time to scream.   
  
The entire chest caved in with a shower of red liquid...was that blood? The force of the impact threw the monster backwards. It landed on its back and twitched a few times before lying still. Tai's first instinct was to turn away from the grisly sight. Without even realizing it, that was what he made Unit 14 do. "That's it!" A voice called over the radio. "Just like that."  
  
"Like what?" Tai hadn't even realized he had done anything.  
  
"You just moved the head. The rest of it works the same way; as long as you don't think too much about it, your nerve impulses will be sent to the EVA's muscles instead of your own."  
  
"I don't get it."  
  
"You don't *need* to get it!" The woman yelled. "Just do it!"  
  
*Well it's worth a try.* Tai decided. He took a deep breath and stood up. It worked! His own body had remained still, but Unit 14 was now on it's feet.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru turned back to Unit 14 in time to see it rise, clumsily at first, to its feet. Her initial assumption had been correct. With both EVAs standing upright, the new unit still towered over Unit 01. This was also the first chance Michiru had to really study the EVA's physical appearance.   
  
Unit 14's armor was almost entirely black except for a few areas that were dark crimson. As with the EVA Series, it was the head that set Unit 14 apart. It had the same protruding, skeletal jaw as Unit 01, though somewhat smaller and angled forward instead of down; and the horn that rose from its forehead was practically identical to Unit 01's. Strangely, Unit 14 seemed to have an extra piece of armor bolted on top of its helmet; a piece of dark gray steel that stretched across the front of its face, giving the EVA the disturbing appearance of a muzzled animal. At least it had eyes. Four of them, actually, two on each side of its face.  
  
Michiru also took the opportunity to count the enemy. Five of the Mass Production Models remained standing. The two who had turned on each other lay still; apparently they had destroyed each other's cores. Still, five EVAs was a lot for them to take on, especially since this new pilot did not seem to have much experience. Well the least she could do was arm the newcomer.  
  
Michiru rushed over to the EVA she had just killed and picked up its sword. She tried to indicate for the pilot of Unit 14 to take the sword from her. She didn't know the black EVA's frequency or she would have told him herself.  
  
The pilot seemed to get the idea. Unit 14 took the sword from Unit 01 and seemed to take a moment to become accustomed to its weight. Suddenly, the big EVA shoved Unit 01 violently away. Michiru was not prepared for that, but seconds later, she saw the reason. Unit 14 lay on its back with a white EVA on top of it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai had seen the white robot running toward them but he had no way to warn Michiru, at least none that he knew about. All he could do was shove Unit 01 out of the way and raise his new sword just as the monster crashed into him. There was a resounding *CLANG* as their swords met and both fell to the ground, the grinning monstrosity on top of him. Tai fought with all his strength against the white EVA as it tried to force the tip of its sword into Unit 14's head. He brought his legs up and kicked.  
  
His enemy went flying. But instead of crashing back to earth, the EVA executed a perfect back flip and spread its massive wings, gliding safely to the ground a few hundred meters away. It folded its wings, raised its sword and charged again.  
  
Acting half on his own and half on instinct, Tai threw himself backwards as the white EVA brought its sword down where Unit 14 had been standing. At the top of his arcing leap, Tai felt a strange sensation in his shoulders. He seemed to be falling much slower than normal. Looking over Unit 14's shoulder, Tai saw that a huge pair of leathery wings had sprouted from the EVA's back.  
  
His attacker was struggling to pull its weapon up; nearly half of the blade had become buried in the earth when it missed Unit 14. Tai lifted his own sword and ran at the trapped EVA, but the giant wings caught air and slowed him down. The white EVA managed to free its sword and bring it up just in time to block Tai's attack. Sparks flew as the giant blades smashed against each other. Both EVAs were thrown off balance by the force of the blow.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What the hell is he doing?" Misato yelled. "I told him not to fight them."  
  
"It may be his only option." Toji said. "They can't escape with those EVAs still after them."  
  
"And what possessed him to open Unit 14's wings?" Misato snapped. She was severely stressed. This situation was quickly moving from 'desperate' to 'hopeless'.  
  
"It must have been an accident." Lieutenant Tanaka said. "He couldn't have known they were there. Much less how to activate them."  
  
"Well disengage them!" Misato yelled. "They're getting in his way."  
  
"Yes Ma'am!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru tightened her grip on Unit 01's injured arm and stood up. Unit 14 had somehow sprouted its own set of wings. But while the EVA series had feathered wings like birds, Unit 14's wings were more reminiscent of a bat, or a dragon out of some fairy tale.  
  
Either way, spreading the wings had been a bad move on the pilot's part. The gigantic wings were causing wind resistance every time the EVA moved, making it clumsy and slow.   
  
Fortunately, the remaining members of the EVA Series seemed to have become more cautious now that they had two opponents to deal with. Having their number reduced by half was probably a factor as well. The other four hung back as their comrade and Unit 14 traded blows.   
  
After a few seconds, Unit 14's wings seemed to shrink and disappear into its back. That allowed Unit 14 to move freely again, and the pilot resumed his attack with renewed strength. His enemy was quickly being pushed back by the sheer force the giant Evangelion put behind each strike.  
  
Finally, after several more bone-jarring collisions between the massive blades, the White EVA made a mistake. It tried to swing at Unit 14's head, probably assuming that the unusually tall EVA would be unable to duck. But Unit 14 did not even try to duck. Instead, it raised its own sword and blocked the swing with the broad side of the giant weapon. The impact pushed Unit 14's blade just far enough to the side, lining it up perfectly.  
  
Unit 14 brought its sword down with deadly force. The blade easily parted flesh and bone, splitting the white monster's torso in half. Michiru could see sparks flying from the EVA's crushed core. One more down.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai brought his huge sword down with every bit of force he could put behind it. The blade sank into his enemy, nearly splitting it in two. Tai's satisfaction was immediately transformed into revulsion as he felt a hot liquid spraying all over him. He saw immediately what it was. A thick, red substance poured out of the wound he had made. From this close, there could be no doubt as to what the substance was. It was not fuel or oil or hydraulic fluid, as Tai had thought when Unit 01 impaled one of the white EVAs on its spikes. It was blood. And those were organs glistening in the exposed chest cavity, not engine parts or electrical cables.  
  
Tai felt like he was about to be sick. Up until now, he had been able to convince himself that the Evangelions were only machines. But looking at the creature he had just cleaved in two made it impossible to sustain that belief. The EVAs were living creatures. He wasn't piloting a robot; he was controlling some kind of monster.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Five down!" Lieutenant Kusanagi called out. "The remaining four units seem to be proceeding with caution."  
  
"They've just been reduced by half." Kensuke commented. "They would be stupid *not* to change their tactics."  
  
"Maybe they're just scared of Unit 14." Lieutenant Tanaka said, in a voice that made it clear that she sure as hell was.  
  
"No." Misato said. "Kensuke's right. They've just adopted a new strategy because the old one didn't work. They don't feel; they just fight."  
  
"But we're winning." Tanaka said. "If they really do think strategically, shouldn't they be retreating?"  
  
Maya shook her head. Long ago, she'd had a hand in creating the system that operated the EVA series. She knew how the system worked. And she knew the white EVAs would never give up. "That's not how they think. The Dummy System copies a human thought pattern, but it's still just a computer program. Somehow their program has been set to target Unit 01. Their entire strategy revolves around destroying their target. The only reason Unit 14 was attacked is that it got in the way. Retreat isn't even an option for them."  
  
"If they're really after Unit 01 then we have to get Michiru some kind of weapon." Toji spoke up. "Tai's been lucky so far. Michiru's the only *actual* pilot out there."  
  
"She lost her knife and there are no weapon depots near there." Kusanagi said. "I hate to say this Major, but there's no way we can arm her."  
  
"What about Unit 14's knife?" Kensuke said. "He certainly isn't using it."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Michiru, we're about to engage Unit 14's prog knife." Misato said.  
  
"Got it." Michiru replied. The pain from Unit 01's severed arm had faded to where she could fight. But she was right handed, and fighting with her left hand wasn't going to be easy especially with the pain distracting her. She looked and saw Unit 14's shoulder armor open, revealing a large progressive knife. Michiru took the knife and looked for the next attacker.   
  
She didn't have to wait long. Her attacker dove out of the sky, completely ignoring the still motionless Unit 14 and driving its sword straight at her. She dodged quickly and swung her new knife at the beast's neck. She succeeded in nearly beheading the EVA. Its deformed head hung from a thin strip of tissue as blood sprayed from its neck. As Michiru watched, the muscles in the neck began to weave back together. The EVA was already healing itself! Michiru lifted her knife again and drove it into her enemy's back, piercing its core. The neck immediately stopped healing as the EVA screamed and collapsed.  
  
Michiru barely had a chance to pull her knife free before another EVA flew at her. She didn't have time to do anything except scream as the EVA's huge sword drew nearer. She readied herself for the pain, but instead felt only blood spraying on her. Looking down, she saw the tip of the sword covered in blood, protruding from the huge back of Unit 14.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai had been unable to move since he cut down the white EVA with his sword. The giant monster's insides were far too similar to a human's for his comfort. He barely noticed when His EVA's shoulder opened up and Michiru pulled a knife out of it. He hardly flinched when she decapitated another white EVA and stabbed it in the chest. But when he saw her about to be speared by one of the three remaining EVAs, he was finally galvanized into action.  
  
Moving faster than even he would have thought possible, Tai leapt in front of Unit 01. Tai felt a cold sensation in his stomach. An instant later, the cold erupted into raging heat, like someone was holding a lit match to his belly. Looking down, Tai realized that Unit 14 had been impaled on the massive sword. He fought the urge to scream from the pain as it spread though his entire midsection.   
  
"Tai! Fight back!" The woman on the radio yelled. "Kill that thing."  
  
Tai tried to reply but he could only moan in agony.  
  
"I know it hurts." The woman said sympathetically. "But Michiru still needs your help."  
  
"I'll....try....." Tai managed to gasp. He gritted his teeth and lifted his huge sword above his head. His attacker responded by twisting its sword slowly, causing him to double over from the pain. The burning pain in his guts blocked nearly all conscious thought, but some part of him realized that Unit 14's shoulders were now pointing straight at the EVAs chest.  
  
"How....do I shoot.....my spikes?" He struggled with every word.   
  
* * * * *  
  
The new pilot, whoever he or she was, had Michiru's full sympathy. She couldn't imagine the pain of being speared on one of those huge swords. When the white EVA began to twist its sword, grinning all the while, she could practically hear the pilot's screams, even without a radio link.   
  
Unit 14 bent at the waist as its attacker continued to twist the giant sword inside it. Suddenly, a cloud of blood and smoke erupted between the two EVAs. When the cloud cleared, Unit 14 was on the ground, clutching its stomach. Blood poured out between its clenched fingers. The white EVA lay still a few hundred feet away with a full round of shoulder spikes protruding from its chest.  
  
Michiru saw the shadow just in time. She ducked underneath a swinging sword. Spinning around, Michiru dropped her knife and tackled the other EVA, causing it to drop its sword. Her enemy was pinned beneath her, but she couldn't reach her knife. She had no way to kill it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai didn't even have to do anything; the crew in the control room sent a signal that fired his spikes into the white EVA, killing it instantly. The spikes propelled it backwards, ripping the sword out of Unit 14, along with a few internal organs that he recognized far to well. That was too much. Tai fell over, gripping his injured midsection and finally screaming in pain.   
  
Through his squinted eyes, Tai saw Unit 01 tackle another white EVA. There seemed to be no end to them. Gasping for breath, Tai did his best to slide Unit 14's exposed organs back inside the EVA. Then, with one hand covering the gaping wound, he slowly stood up. He turned and saw the last remaining EVA trying to sneak up on Unit 01. The EVA was completely ignoring him. Bad news for it.  
  
Tai lifted his sword and swung it with a scream composed in equal parts of pain and anger. The white EVA never saw it coming. The sword ripped through its thin waist and cut it in half. The EVA barely even acknowledged Unit 14, it dragged itself toward Unit 01 with its arms, even as it bled to death. The grin on its twisted face was more than disturbing. Tai suddenly became aware of a high-pitched, electric whine coming from the EVA. The whine grew progressively louder as the EVA inched closer to Unit 01  
  
"TAI!" He heard a man yell. "It's gonna self destruct! Destroy the core! NOW!!"  
  
"Where is it?" Tai yelled.  
  
"IN THE CHEST! WHERE THE HEART WOULD BE!"  
  
Tai wasted no time raising his sword and plunging it through the white EVA's chest. The whining sound fell silent immediately as the EVA let out one final scream before dying.   
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru did not notice any of this. She was too preoccupied with how to destroy her enemy. She couldn't reach any kind of weapon. It took all the strength in her single remaining arm just to hold the struggling EVA down. As far as she could tell, Unit 14 was down for the count. She doubted she could choke her enemy to death. So close to victory, all of her options were exhausted. There was nothing she could do.  
  
That was when Michiru noticed the stump of Unit 01's right arm. She could see a white bone jutting out from the ragged flesh, a very sharp bone. She immediately wished she hadn't noticed. Now she felt obligated to follow through with the plan that popped into her mind. God, was she really ready to do this. *Come on, Michiru* She said to herself. *Take one for the team.*  
  
She tightened her grip on the EVA beneath her. Then, positioning Unit 01's right arm over the EVAs core, she gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. This was going to hurt like hell.  
  
Before she could change her mind, Michiru plunged Unit 01's arm down into her enemy, straight through its S2 Core. Michiru realized that she had been wrong.   
  
Hell *couldn't* hurt this bad.  
  
* * * * *  
  
With the last of the giant monsters dead, all Michiru wanted to do was lie down and sleep. Instead, she had to lead Unit 14 back into the Geofront. She welcomed the EVA's deactivation, breathing a sigh of relief as all the pain of her wounds disappeared. She jumped out of Unit 01 and ran to where Unit 14's pilot was being helped out of the giant EVA. She had to know the identity of the pilot who had saved her life. She was totally unprepared for what she saw.  
  
At first she refused to believe it, even though the evidence was right in front of her. There, lying on the metal deck plates, soaked to the skin, coughing up LCL, was Tai.   
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai thought he would never make it back to the launch bay. Every few steps, he felt like the pain would overwhelm him. Finally, he reached the cage and they turned off Unit 14. The pain disappeared, but Tai knew the memory of it would be with him for a long time. He stumbled out of the cockpit and lay on the cold metal deck, coughing violently.   
  
Tai suddenly had the feeling he was being watched. Looking up, he saw Michiru. A wave of relief washed over him. She was all right. She was soaked in the same liquid as he was, and her eyes were red from crying, but to Tai she had never looked better. The skin-tight flight suit she wore didn't hurt either. It took Tai a moment to realize that he was staring. He looked away quickly, blushing. When he turned back, he struggled to keep his eyes moving.   
  
He was about to say something when a hand fell on his shoulder. He turned to see a NERV officer looking at him. "Come with me." The man said. Tai wanted to stay and make sure Michiru was all right, but he decided it would be better to comply. Casting one last glance at Michiru, he followed the man.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Okay." The man with the metal hand, whose name, Tai had learned, was Major Suzahara, said. "You ran out of the control room and found the EVA by accident. Then you got inside and activated it."  
  
"I...guess so." Tai said quietly.   
  
"Now I'm not asking why you got in the EVA." The Major said. "I...think we've all pretty much figured that out. But I want to know *how* you activated it."  
  
"I don't know how." Tai said. "It just...happened." They had been at this for over an hour. Tai was beginning to realize just how small a chance he'd had of being able to pilot the EVA or survive the battle. Apparently what he had done was a stone's throw short of impossible, and NERV refused to believe he had done it by accident. "Is...Michiru all right?" He asked.  
  
"Private Ikari is just fine." Major Suzahara said.   
  
"Then what does it matter how I did it?" Tai asked. "Those things are dead and she's alive." He sighed. "Look if you're going to put me in jail or something then just go ahead."  
  
"Actually, we have something different in mind."  
  
"Huh?" Tai said.  
  
"The Commander has a proposal for you."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hello Mr. Matsumoto." A woman with long, purple hair stood up as he entered the large office. Tai recognized the Commander's voice as one of the women who had spoken to him on the radio. "Commander Misato Katsuragi." She introduced herself. So this *was* the boss Michiru lived with. She seemed friendly enough, but Tai had to wonder what her 'proposal' was.  
  
"That was pretty impressive the way you handled yourself out there today." The commander said, sitting down and gesturing for Tai to do the same.  
  
"I was...just lucky."  
  
The woman nodded. "We were all lucky." She said. "But I was particularly impressed with how you were able to pilot Unit 14. You say you had never seen an EVA before."  
  
"I know it sounds crazy." Tai said. "But it *really* did activate on its own."  
  
"I believe you." She assured him. "Video surveillance confirmed that the entry plug ejected on its own. I just have one question for you. You did it once, do you think you could do it again?"  
  
"I honestly don't know ma'am. I don't even know how I did it *this* time."  
  
"Would you be willing to try?" She left the question hanging in the air.  
  
"I'm...not sure I understand." Tai said.  
  
"We're in a war, Tai." Misato said. "And so far, Michiru has had to fight that war alone. Today it nearly got her killed. She needs help. That's why we built Unit 14."  
  
Suddenly it dawned on Tai. "You want me to..."  
  
"Once someone pilots an EVA, it tends to form an attachment. The likelihood of someone else being able to synchronize with Unit 14 now that you have is extremely slim." Misato said. "Even if they could, we don't know how to find them. We need you, Tai. But I can't force you. All I can do is ask."  
  
"It'll help Michiru?"  
  
"It will help everyone." Misato replied. Tai nodded. "Okay." Misato said. She stood up. "As Commander, I hereby grant Tai Matsumoto an emergency field commission of Private in NERV. Private Matsumoto will serve as the designated pilot for Evangelion Unit 14." She smiled at Tai. He felt someone behind him and turned to see Major Suzahara, also smiling, though more grimly than Commander Katsuragi.  
  
"Welcome to the war." He said quietly.  
  
* * * * *  
  
--OUR SERVANTS HAVE FAILED US.--  
  
--EVA SERIES IS NO MORE.--  
  
--HOW COULD THE SIXTH CHILD BE SO STRONG?--  
  
"She isn't." Keele said quietly. "Not alone. NERV has found the Seventh."  
  
--THE SEVENTH CHILD?--  
  
--IMPOSSIBLE!--  
  
--WHO IS IT?--  
  
"A boy. We don't know much else. But Katsuragi made him pilot."  
  
--SO NOW THERE ARE TWO.--  
  
--THE SCENARIO IS RUINED.--  
  
"Well, things fall apart." Keele said.  
  
--A RATHER CASUAL ATTITUDE.--  
  
"I prefer it to your hysteria."  
  
--THE SITUATION IS OUT OF CONTROL--  
  
--THE PLAN CANNOT WORK NOW.--  
  
"You are absolutely correct." Keele said. "The original scenario is beyond recovery. But all is not lost."  
  
--EXPLAIN.--  
  
Keele smiled. "The seed of NERV's destruction has been planted." He said. "Now, once again, we wait."  
  
--IS THAT WISE?--  
  
--WAITING HAS NOT BROUGHT OUR PLANS TO FRUITION.--  
  
"Things are different now." Keele said. "The snake is in the garden. It is only a matter of time before Third Impact is incurred."  
  
--VERY WELL.--  
  
--WE WILL WAIT.--  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Toji asked after Tai had left the office.  
  
Misato sighed. "This is necessary." She said. "We need pilots."  
  
"Something about this just isn't right." Toji insisted. "He's never seen an EVA. He has no connection with Unit 14, but it opened for him *and* achieved the highest initial Synch Ratio *ever*. Doesn't that strike you as a little odd? Maybe even a little disturbing?"  
  
"I know where you're going with this." Misato said. "And yes, the same thought has crossed my mind. So I had Maya examine him."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And aside from a slight headache, he appears to be one of the healthiest human beings alive." She said. "But he *is* human. Every test confirmed it."  
  
"All right." Toji sighed. "We *do* need all the help we can get." He turned to leave.  
  
"Toji." Misato called out. He turned. "Keep an eye on him. Just in case." Toji nodded and left the office.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai found Michiru exactly where Commander Katsuragi had told him she would be. The sun was beginning to set as Tai drove up to the lookout point where She stood, staring silently at the city below. In the distance, recovery crews were already gathering the bodies of the EVA Series. But Michiru's attention seemed entirely focused on Tokyo 3. In fact, Tai wasn't sure she even realized that he was standing next to her until she spoke.  
  
"It's beautiful isn't it?" She said  
  
"Yeah. It is." Tai agreed.  
  
"I like to come up here after drills. Just to watch the buildings grow." She said quietly.  
  
"I've never seen it." Tai said  
  
She almost smiled as a siren began wailing in the distance. "Well you're in for a real treat."  
  
Below them, hundreds of locks were released simultaneously. Huge doors all over the city slid open. One by one, the buildings that made up downtown Tokyo 3 began rising slowly out of the ground. Michiru hadn't lied. It was an impressive sight. In a few minutes, an entire city had sprung up, seemingly out of nowhere.   
  
"It's amazing." Tai said.  
  
Michiru nodded. "It's something worth fighting for." She agreed.  
  
"Is that why you do it?" Tai asked.  
  
"I used to think so." Michiru said. "And maybe that's still part of the reason. But when I was talking to you today...I realized the real reason I keep piloting."  
  
"The 'real' reason?"  
  
"You see...my Mother and Father were both pilots. So it's like you with soccer. As long as I can do what they did.....then it's almost like they're not really gone. Not completely. So even if I have to do it alone...I don't mind. I'll keep doing it; because it's all I have left of them." They were both silent for several minutes. "They want you to do it too. Don't they?" She finally asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Are you going to?"  
  
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Tai said.  
  
"Don't say that!" Michiru said, turning to look in his eyes. "You can still choose. You don't have to do it."  
  
"You don't want me to." Tai realized.  
  
Michiru looked away. "I....don't know how to answer that." She said. "If I say I don't want you to...then I'll feel like I'm being....selfish. But I *don't* want you to. It's too dangerous."  
  
"That's why I can't let you keep doing it alone." Tai said.  
  
"I *have* to do it, Tai." Michiru said. "You don't know what you're getting into. Every time you get inside one of these things, it kills you a little. Even if you survive the battle...you die inside. I don't want that to happen to you."   
  
"It won't." Tai said, taking her hands. "And it's not going to happen to you any more either."  
  
"What?" She looked up at him, her dark blue eyes brimming with tears.  
  
"You've had this....thing; this huge responsibility for what? A month now, two?" He said. "And you've had to do it by yourself and keep it secret. That would kill anyone, like you said. But you don't have to do it alone anymore. We're in this together now. And as long as we're together, we can keep each other alive."  
  
"You really think so?" Michiru asked.  
  
In response, Tai put his arms around Michiru and gently brought his lips down to hers. Their first kiss was brief, but wonderful. And when it was over, the tears were gone from her eyes.  
  
"I promise." He whispered.  
  
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Michiru smiled and pulled Tai into another kiss. "You'd better be the kind of guy who keeps his promises." She whispered.  
  
  
To be continued... 


	6. When the Earth Shook!

* * * * *  
Legal Stuff: I can't really say how much I love writing these disclaimers at the beginning of every chapter. It gives me a sense of order in a chaotic world. Anyway, I don't own EVA or any of its characters.   
* * * * *  
Dedication: To the makers of Instant Ramen, without whom I would probably have starved to death this year.  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:6- When the Earth Shook  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Okay, try it again." Claire said.  
  
Akira sighed. "Okay." He paused before making his fifth attempt to translate the words in front of him. "I like....to be eating popped corn?"  
  
"Close." Tai said with a smile. "But it's 'to eat' not 'to be eating'."  
  
"And the word is 'popcorn'." Claire added.  
  
"Damn it!"  
  
"Don't get so frustrated." Michiru said.  
  
"Easy for you to say, Miss 'Japanese is actually my *second* language'." Akira muttered.  
  
"Hey it's not my fault you're a slow learner." Michiru snapped.  
  
"Maybe we should just take a break." Claire broke in before their argument could get any worse. Michiru and Akira tolerated each other, if only because they were dating each other's respective best friends. But they weren't going to be buddies any time soon.   
  
"Sounds good." Akira said. "If I don't get out of this library soon, my head's gonna explode."  
  
"Really?" Michiru asked. "Because we don't *have* to leave yet."  
  
"Boy, you got a really sweet one on your hands, Tai."   
  
* * * * *  
  
A cold wind picked up and blew around them as they stepped out of the library. Claire shivered and pulled Akira's jacket tightly around her body.  
  
"I thought it was always supposed to be hot here." She whined.  
  
"Well Japan used to have *really* cold winters, before Second Impact." Tai said.  
  
"And the further we get from Second Impact, the more things are getting back to normal." Michiru added.  
  
"Great." Claire muttered. "You know, I'm from L.A.; I don't *own* warm clothes."  
  
Michiru smiled. "We'll go shopping some time."  
  
"You mean the two of you actually have a free minute these days?" Claire asked.  
  
"Once in a while." Tai said, smiling.  
  
"You got enough free time for the party tomorrow night?" Akira asked.  
  
"Yeah." Tai replied.  
  
"But we've got to at least make an appearance at the company party." Michiru added. "So we may be a little late."   
  
"Well don't take too long." Akira said. "I want you both there at Midnight."  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So you and Tai are going to a party on campus?" Misato asked.  
  
"Yeah." Michiru replied. "Some fraternity is throwing it. But we're going to come by here first."  
  
"Well have fun." Misato said.  
  
"We will."  
  
"Speaking of Tai, where is he?" Misato asked. "I thought he came in with you."  
  
"He did." Michiru said. "I don't know what's holding him up."  
  
On cue, Tai appeared in the doorway of the test chamber. A black plug suit hung loose on his body.  
  
"I think they made this thing too big." He said. "What?"  
  
Michiru, meanwhile, was doing her best not to laugh out loud.  
  
"What's so funny?" Tai asked.  
  
"Sorry...sorry." Michiru said, holding in laughter. "The button....on your wrist."  
  
Tai seemed to notice the button for the fist time. He pressed it and the suit instantly tightened. Michiru's laughter faded away quickly as she noticed how well the skin-tight suit showed off Tai's well-toned muscles.   
  
"Okay, you two." Misato said. "Let's get started."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato watched on the tactical map as Unit 01 led Unit 14 through a series of combat drills against holographic Angels.   
  
"They're looking good." Maya commented. "I wish we could get Tai some time in an actual EVA though."  
  
"Well that can't be helped." Misato said. "Unit 14 was practically gutted. It still needs a lot of work. And they have to grow a whole new arm for Unit 01."  
  
"Still, it could have been worse." Minako chimed in. "If those other EVAs had worked as a team....we might all be dead now."  
  
"By the way, are Kensuke's people any closer to figuring out what happened to them?" Maya asked.  
  
Misato frowned. "Not really." She said. "Their AC recorders hadn't been activated for transport. So, without the carrier crews to tell us...."  
  
"Right." Maya said quietly. "It just seems odd. They started out by destroying their transports, then they targeted Tokyo 3, and then switched *again* to target Unit 01 as soon as it appeared."  
  
Misato nodded. The behavior of the EVA Series certainly didn't fit with the 'typical' out-of-control Evangelion. It was almost as if they had been receiving instructions; as if Unit 01 had been the target the entire time. If that was true, it meant someone was trying to kill Michiru. The U.N. had sent NERV the EVA series, but they had no reason to want Michiru dead, and every reason to want her alive. So then it had to be someone behind the scenes; someone at a higher level of power.  
  
Misato was pretty sure she knew who that someone was, but it didn't make her feel any better. The only people who could have pulled this off were SEELE. Even if SEELE was behind the attack, there was nothing Misato could do about it. She had gone up against SEELE once before. And she had lost.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai stood still and let the hot water from the shower run over him, washing away the slimy LCL. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, trying in vain to massage away the pain in his head. This always happened, ever since the first time he fought in Unit 14. Everything was fine when he was synchronized, but as soon as the EVA was deactivated, the pain came.   
  
The first time it was mild; a slight, nagging ache behind his eyes. But every time he synchronized for training, it had gotten worse. Today it felt like someone was pushing ice picks into his eye sockets.   
  
After a few more minutes of squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his eyelids, the pain faded away, as it always did. Tai stepped out of the shower and put on his uniform.   
  
The pain was gone for now, but Tai knew it would come back the next time he piloted an EVA. If it got much worse he wouldn't be able to keep it to himself. He would have to tell someone.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The bus dropped Kaori off in front of a huge row of sliding doors. Taking a deep breath and smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in her uniform, she slid her brand-new ID card through the scanner next to her and stepped through one of the doors as it slid open. She followed the signs to Central Dogma.  
  
Kaori's breath caught slightly as she stepped onto the command deck. The room was even bigger than she had imagined. The command center was stretched over three levels, a huge holographic map spread out in front of them. Currently, there were only a few people on the control deck. Kaori spotted the one she was looking for immediately. She was standing at a control station a few feet away, talking to a thin man with bright red hair.  
  
Kaori smiled and quietly approached the two officers. When she was right behind them she straightened and called out in her most official voice.  
  
"Corporal Tanaka reporting for duty, Lieutenant!"  
  
Minako jumped slightly at the sudden noise, then turned and smiled.  
  
"Kaori!" She exclaimed, hugging her sister tightly. "When did you get in?"  
  
"Just now." Kaori replied. She turned around slowly, showing off her NERV uniform. "What do you think?"  
  
Minako laughed. "Not too shabby." She said. "Oh, sorry Hisashi." She turned to the redhead next to her. "This is my little sister, Kaori."  
  
"That's Corporal Tanaka now." Kaori corrected her sister.  
  
"Alright *Corporal*." Minako said. "Meet *Lieutenant* Hisashi Kusanagi. So have you reported to the Major?"  
  
"Not yet." Kaori replied.  
  
"Well here he comes."  
  
Kaori spun around and snapped to attention as Major Suzahara approached them.   
  
* * * * *  
  
Toji was a little surprised when the girl next to Minako turned and stood at attention, looking very uncomfortable. It was as if someone had made a walking, talking, Xerox copy of Lieutenant Tanaka. The new Corporal wore her hair in a different style than her sister, but it was the exact same shade of blue. Their brown eyes matched as well. In their identical NERV uniforms, the resemblance was almost frightening.  
  
"This must be Corporal Tanaka." He said.  
  
"Yes Sir!" The girl called out, snapping a salute. "Reporting for duty, Major!"  
  
Toji smiled. Had he been like this when he first joined NERV? No, he decided. Of course, he hadn't *wanted* to be here when he first joined. "At ease, Corporal." He said. If the girl's stance relaxed at all, Toji didn't notice. "I'd show you around the bridge personally, but I'm in a bit of a rush. I just wanted to say 'hello'."  
  
"I'll get her settled in, Sir." Minako said, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder.  
  
"Thanks." Toji said, smiling. "Welcome aboard, Corporal."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Major Suzahara was gone for at least a minute before Kaori finally let herself relax.  
  
"I think that went well." Minako said.  
  
Kaori meanwhile was beating her own forehead. "Stupid...stupid!" She muttered.  
  
"Uh...you okay?" Lieutenant Kusanagi asked.  
  
"I just....I should have reported to him as soon as I got here." Kaori said. "Now he probably thinks I'm really irresponsible. He'll tell Commander Katsuragi and I'll be out of here by the end of the week."  
  
"Kaori." Minako grabbed her sister's shoulders. "Take your Ritalin. I probably shouldn't tell you this on your first day, but they aren't quite as heavy on 'proper decorum' here as they are at the training center."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Don't worry." Minako said. "You'll do fine here. Just....try to calm down a little. And as for the Commander, she's not the kind of boss who fires people in their first week."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You okay?" Tai asked.  
  
Michiru looked up. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said.  
  
"So how come your out here instead of in there?" He asked, gesturing to her seat on the front porch.   
  
"It was just a little overwhelming in there." She replied. "I've never really been to a party like this before."  
  
Tai gave Michiru an understanding smile and sat down on the steps next to her.  
  
"I feel kind of childish." She continued. "I can get in Unit 01 and go fight Angels and I never back down. But take me to a party and I retreat to the front porch after half an hour."  
  
"Hey." He said. "Don't worry about it."  
  
"But you should be in there having a good time with your friends, not out here babysitting me."  
  
"Those are all Akira's friends, not mine." Tai said. "Besides; I'd rather be out here with you anyway."  
  
Michiru looked at him and smiled. "Thank you."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For a lot of things. I don't think I ever actually thanked you for saving me from those EVAs. Right now, for staying out here with me. Mostly just for being you."  
  
Tai put his arms around Michiru and pulled her close. "In that case, thank you." He said. "For letting me be myself."  
  
The sound of people loudly counting down drifted onto the porch through the open door.   
  
"TEN...NINE...EIGHT...SEVEN...SIX..."  
  
Michiru turned to face Tai. "So..." She said. "Do I get a New Year's kiss tonight?"  
  
Tai laughed and kissed her. "Tonight...tomorrow......Whenever you want."  
  
"...FIVE...FOUR...THREE...TWO...ONE!!!!!" A wild chorus of cheering and singing erupted from the crowded frat house. Fireworks exploded overhead, turning the night sky into a brilliant field of color and light.   
  
Michiru and Tai spent the first minutes of 2041 holding each other, lost in a deep and blissful kiss.  
  
"Happy New Year." Tai whispered.  
  
Michiru smiled. "Yeah. I think it will be."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Test Plugs activated. Pilots detected." A technician reported.  
  
"Okay." Maya said. "Fix the plug depth there and begin recording. Test duration will be two hours."  
  
"The first readings are coming in, Doctor."  
  
Maya frowned slightly as her screen displayed Tai and Michiru's Synch Ratio data. Both pilots had improved immensely over the past few days, ever since Misato had increased their training schedules. After the incident with the EVA Series, the commander wanted to make sure they were ready for anything.  
  
Tai's reading was high and stable, as always. He seemed to have leveled off at 68.8 percent. Michiru was another story. Her score hadn't actually dropped. But neither was it rising as it once had. Maya had noticed that Michiru seemed to have become less focused lately.  
  
"How are they." Maya turned to see Toji behind her.   
  
"Well, Tai is the boy wonder, as usual." She replied.  
  
Toji nodded. "And Michiru?"  
  
"Still unfocused." Maya said. "She's been like this ever since New Years."  
  
"Well you can't really blame her."  
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
Toji looked at her like she had grown a second head. "The day after tomorrow is the Tenth." He said.  
  
"Oh God, of course." Maya hadn't even thought of that.  
  
"Give her a few days." Toji said. "She'll be back to normal."  
  
* * * * *   
  
"Toji says you've been having some trouble in the Test Plug." Misato said.  
  
Michiru looked up from her dinner. "I've just been a little out of it." She said quickly.  
  
"Is it because of....the time of year?" Misato asked.  
  
"Well I know a lot of people get depressed around the holidays, but I don't think that's it." Michiru said.  
  
"That isn't what I meant."  
  
Michiru sighed angrily. "You mean because it's the anniversary of my parents' deaths?" She said with more venom than she intended. Certainly more than Misato deserved. "I'm...sorry." She said quietly.  
  
"It's alright." Misato said. "Are you going to go see them."  
  
Michiru wasted no time shaking her head. "I can't." She said. "Not yet."  
  
"I understand. But you can't keep avoiding them forever." Misato said. "That'll only make it hurt more."  
  
"I know." Michiru whispered. "I'm just....not ready yet."  
  
* * * * *  
  
English class was just letting out when the first earthquake hit.   
  
"I would just like to call everyone's attention to this!" Akira said triumphantly, pointing to the latest test. "For those of you in the back, that is a 'B-'. Thank you very much."  
  
"Japan's first snow in forty years. Akira's first passing grade. Boy this is turning out to be a year of firsts isn't it?" Michiru commented.   
  
"Laugh all you want, Miss Ikari." Akira said. "You can't ruin this for me."  
  
Michiru was about to reply when the floor began to tremble. All around them, students stopped in their tracks. They barely had time to recover from the mild tremor when the ground beneath them heaved. Anyone standing was thrown off their feet as the earth shook violently.  
  
It only lasted a few seconds. When the worst had passed, people began to stand up and dust themselves off. Akira was smiling as he helped Claire to her feet.   
  
"Talk about a wild ride!" He said.  
  
"Everyone okay?" Tai asked. "Michiru?"  
  
Claire was the first to see Michiru. She was cowering in a corner, looking absolutely terrified.  
  
"Michiru!" Tai ran over to where Michiru sat and helped her to her feet. Michiru seemed to be holding back sobs of fear.  
  
"Hey, Michiru." Akira said, actually becoming concerned. "It's just a little quake. Nothing to worry about."  
  
His words went unheard as Michiru pulled away from Tai and ran out of the building. Claire suddenly remembered something Michiru had told her the first time they met and realized what had her friend so frightened. "You guys stay here." She said, following Michiru out into the quad.  
  
She found Michiru on the same bench where they had first met. Her shoulders heaved as huge sobs tore through her. Claire sat down next to Michiru.   
  
"Are you alright?" She asked, touching Michiru's arm lightly.  
  
Michiru looked up. She nodded. "I just...got scared."  
  
"Because of your parents?"  
  
"Sort of." Michiru said. "I've always been a little scared of earthquakes, after I found out about them."  
  
"You looked more than 'a little' scared." Claire said.  
  
"Well...tomorrow is...when it happened." Michiru said reluctantly.  
  
"Oh no..."  
  
"I know it's stupid but...I couldn't help thinking that...it was coming to get me. Because it missed me last time."  
  
Claire hugged her friend reassuringly. "Come on." She said. "Let's go back."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Report!" Toji yelled.  
  
"Mt. Fuji observatory is reporting it as a 3.2 earthquake, Sir." Corporal Tanaka reported. "No damage to headquarters and no injuries."  
  
"Alright. Get on the line to Mt. Fuji, find out if there's any more on the way."  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
Just then, another huge shock ripped through the building.  
  
"Another 3.2!" Kaori called out.  
  
"You sure?" Lieutenant Kusanagi asked. "It felt stronger."  
  
"What? No way!" Kaori exclaimed, staring at her monitor in disbelief. "The epicenter moved!" She typed a command into her workstation. Two separate dots appeared on the tactical map. "The point of origin for the second earthquake is twelve meters closer than the first."  
  
That was all Toji needed to hear. "Go to second stage alert!" He ordered. "Keep track of those quakes. I want each one mapped precisely."  
  
"Should we prep the EVAs?" Minako asked.  
  
"That might be a little premature." Toji replied. "For now let's just keep our eyes open."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Classes had been cancelled for the rest of the day thanks to the near constant earthquakes. There had been five separate quakes in the space of half an hour and they showed no sign of stopping. It was just as well. After the fourth earthquake shuddered through Tokyo 3, Michiru and Tai had been called in. However, now that they were here, both felt a little useless.   
  
"So we're not even sure there's actually an Angel out there?" Michiru asked.  
  
Misato nodded. "We're still......" She fell silent and grabbed a table for support as yet another quake struck. "We're still working on that." She finished when the shaking had subsided.   
  
"So what should we do in the meantime?" Tai asked.  
  
"Just sit tight." Misato said. "As soon as we confirm an Angel's presence, we'll get you in your EVA's."   
  
"You seem pretty sure there's one out there." Michiru said.  
  
"Earthquakes don't act like this." Misato replied. "There's *something* causing it."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Twelve more meters." Kaori said, marking the source of the latest earthquake on the tactical map.   
  
"Well if this *is* an Angel, it's got a lousy sense of direction." Kensuke said cryptically.  
  
"Translate for those of us not inside your head." Toji said.  
  
"I thought it was obvious." Kensuke replied, pointing to the line of dots on the map. "It's starting to turn away from Tokyo 3."  
  
"Are you sure, Captain?" Minako asked, staring at the dots.  
  
"I'll prove it." Kensuke said. "Corporal, could you please draw a line through those dots."  
  
"Yes, Sir." Kaori said. Moments later, a red line appeared between each dot. With the line, Kensuke's point became quite obvious.  
  
"See." He said, pointing at the line. "The last two points aren't in line. It started out in a perfectly straight line toward Tokyo 3. Then it turned. If it keeps turning like this, it's going to be heading away from us.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai and Michiru sat quietly in the empty briefing room, waiting for any news about the situation.  
  
"We don't always wait this long do we?" Tai finally asked.  
  
"No." Michiru said. "Usually they're right on top of us before we even see them coming."  
  
"So maybe this isn't an Angel at all." Tai suggested.  
  
"Well, Angel or not, something's out there." Michiru said. "I may be going out on a limb here, but I'd say we're the only ones qualified to take out something that can cause earthquakes."  
  
"So no matter what they find..."  
  
"...They'll send us after it." Michiru finished Tai's thought.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Half an hour later, Kensuke was becoming convinced that whatever was approaching had a severe learning disability.  
  
"So it starts out coming straight for us, then decides to take an arcing approach instead. Tell me I'm not the only one who doesn't get this thing." He said.  
  
"It's odd all right." Misato agreed. "Have we managed to figure out what it is yet?"  
  
"Negative." Minako said. "We can't get a waveform reading until it generates an AT Field. And it's too near the city's main power transformers for our other sensors. There's too much interference."  
  
"Interference?" Misato asked.  
  
"The transformers send ultrasonic vibrations into the ground when they operate." Kensuke explained. "There's a fancy name for it, but basically they hum."  
  
"And how far does this 'humming' extend?"  
  
"About a mile in every direction..." He suddenly understood what Misato was asking. He reached over Kaori and typed rapidly at her keyboard. A light blue circle appeared on the map. The line of red dots curved around the blue circle, never straying within its borders.  
  
"Huh?" Was all Toji could say.  
  
"It's avoiding the vibrations." Misato said.  
  
For a moment, everyone was silent. Amazingly, it was Kaori who first spoke up.  
  
"Uh...I have an idea."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Michiru asked, looking down at the two rows of black cubes that stretched into the distance in front of her.  
  
"According to the Magi, this has the highest probability of success." Toji's floating image replied. "But no, we're not a hundred percent sure."  
  
"Could you run this by me one more time?" Tai asked.  
  
"Gladly. The target is avoiding the vibrations from the power transformers. These machines are mimicking those vibrations to drive it away from Tokyo 3 and up to the surface. Once it surfaces, you two will be in charge of taking it out."  
  
"So do we even know what 'it' is yet?" Michiru asked.  
  
"We'll know as soon as it surfaces." Misato said.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Any minute now." Captain Aida said, watching the clock count down toward the next predicted earthquake. Seconds later the floor began to tremble. "Here we go."  
  
The rumbling subsided after a few seconds. "Do we have a fix on it?" Major Suzahara asked.  
  
"Coming up on screen now." Minako replied.  
  
Kaori breathed a sigh of relief as the latest location was marked on the map. The target was following the route they had set. Her plan was working. Kaori felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the Commander standing over her.   
  
"Good job." The older woman said.  
  
Kaori practically glowed with pride. "Thank you, Ma'am!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Alright." Misato said. "It's on its way to you."  
  
"Got it." Michiru said. She aimed her Positron Rifle at the huge circle painted on the ground. In a few minutes, the target, whatever it was, would emerge from somewhere in that circle. She opened a link to Unit 14. "You ready?"  
  
Tai nodded nervously. "I think so." He said.   
  
Michiru smiled. "Just think of it like this; there's only one this time."  
  
"Yeah." Tai returned her smile. "Don't worry, I'll be okay."  
  
An instant later, the ground beneath their feet began to shake. A crack appeared in the center of the marked area.  
  
"Here it comes."  
  
The crack spread. The ground began to buckle and strain upward. Eventually, the pressure became too great and the earth split. A huge, shining object surged up through the exploding earth.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"The target is surfacing!" Minako called out.  
  
"AT Field!" Hisashi yelled, sending the waveform reading to the main screen. "Blue pattern"  
  
"An Angel." Misato opened her link to the EVAs. "Okay you two." She said. "It's in your hands now."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"That's an Angel?" Michiru said in disbelief. These things just kept getting stranger every time she fought one.  
  
"It's a giant marble." Tai said, as if saying it would somehow make the thing in front of him seem less ridiculous.  
  
The angel was, in fact, a perfect silver sphere, hundreds of feet in diameter. It floated a few feet above the ground, its reflective surface rippling like a pool of quicksilver, distorting the reflection of the Evangelions. Michiru's two prior battles were all that kept her from completely dismissing the possibility of danger from the floating ball. She knew better than to underestimate *anything* that bore the name 'Angel'.  
  
The Angel floated in the air, motionless. The ring of sonic emitters around it imprisoned it.   
  
"I've got it's AT Field neutralized!" Tai said urgently. "Shoot it!"  
  
Michiru lifted the positron rifle attached to Unit 01's right arm and aimed it at the giant silver orb. She squeezed off a shot, wincing slightly as she felt the recoil from the huge weapon. A brilliant bolt of energy lanced out from the rifle and burned a hole straight through the Angel.   
  
"Nice shot!" Tai exclaimed.  
  
Michiru expected the Angel to fall out of the sky, but it continued to float. Seconds later, the silvery liquid that made up its body flowed into the wound, sealing it without a trace.  
  
"No way..." Michiru said.  
  
"Energy buildup inside the Angel!" She heard Lieutenant Kusanagi yell. "Get out of the way!"  
  
An instant later, Michiru felt a giant, invisible freight train slam into her. Unit 01 was lifted off of its feet and thrown painfully to the ground.   
  
"MICHIRU!!" Tai yelled.  
  
"I'm okay!" She assured him. "Just shoot that thing!"  
  
Unit 14 raised its own positron rifle and fired three rounds into the Angel. This time however, the shots did not even connect. The Angel's metallic surface rippled as the energy bolts bore down on it. Three holes opened in the Angel's body. The bolts passed harmlessly through the holes. Seconds later, Unit 14 was flung through the air like a rag doll just as Unit 01 had been.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This isn't working!" Michiru said.  
  
"Yeah I can see that." Toji replied. He turned to Misato. "What now?"  
  
"Pull them back to a safe distance." Misato said. "But keep them out there. I want them ready if that thing starts moving again."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"There. Hold that position." Minako said. On screen, both EVAs halted their hasty retreat. "Okay, we're going to come up with something." She assured Tai and Michiru. "Just hold tight."  
  
"If anyone's got any bright ideas, now's the time." Commander Katsuragi said.   
  
"What about an N2 mine?" Captain Aida suggested.  
  
"I was actually leaning toward something slightly less destructive." The Commander replied.  
  
"It's far enough away." The Captain insisted. "There wouldn't be any damage to the city."  
  
"But there's no guarantee that it would harm the Angel." Major Suzahara said. "The only thing we know it would destroy is the emitters. And then if the Angel *wasn't* destroyed...."  
  
"It would be free to move again. Of course." Captain Aida realized. "Okay, bad plan."  
  
"What about the emitters?" Hisashi suddenly spoke up.  
  
"What about them?" Major Suzahara asked.  
  
"Well, why is it avoiding them?"  
  
"Because of the vibrations." Kaori said.  
  
"Exactly." Hisashi said. "But why? Do they hurt it or something?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai rolled his head in a circle, trying to remove the soreness in his neck. Unfortunately, the actual soreness was in Unit 14's neck, not his, so there was nothing to be done about it.   
  
"How are you holding up?" He asked Michiru.  
  
"I'm okay." She replied. "It didn't hit me that hard. Just caught me by surprise that's all."  
  
"What are we gonna do?"  
  
"Don't worry." Michiru said. "They'll come up with something. They always do."  
  
On cue, Misato's face appeared before them. "Okay." She said. "We have a plan."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru was silent for a few seconds after Misato explained the operation. She blinked once or twice.  
  
"That's a plan?"  
  
"What's the problem?" Misato asked.  
  
"Well, 'distract it while Tai pushes a box toward it' isn't exactly the height of military strategy." Michiru said.  
  
"I agree." Tai said.  
  
"Not you too...." Misato began.  
  
"I should be the one distracting it."  
  
"Any particular reason?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Well...because..."  
  
"Because you're the man here?" Michiru suggested, becoming slightly annoyed with her boyfriend.  
  
"I was going to say because Unit 14's bigger and uglier."   
  
"Well.....okay I see your point."  
  
"Guys." Misato interrupted. "Make up your minds."  
  
"I'll distract it." Tai said. "Michiru, you push the box."  
  
"Okay." Michiru said. "Take care of yourself."  
  
"You too."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai gave Michiru a few minutes to move into position. The image of a forty-story robot sneaking around was slightly humorous, but the seriousness of the situation kept Tai from laughing.   
  
"Okay." Michiru said. "In position."  
  
"Got it." Tai took a deep breath. "Okay here goes."  
  
He stood up abruptly, drawing Unit 14 to it's full height. He walked slowly toward the Angel.   
  
"Hey!" He yelled. "Over here!"  
  
There was no way to tell if the featureless Angel was concentrating on him or not. So Tai decided to make sure. Still bearing down on the Angel, Tai flexed the muscles in his back, extending Unit 14's huge black wings.   
  
"Okay Michiru." He said. "I can't get more conspicuous. Now's the time."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru nodded and crept toward the Angel. "Okay." She said. "I'm moving to the emitter now." She rushed forward and reached for the black cube in front of her. She had barely begun to push it when a small area of the Angel's surface seemed to harden. Michiru was about to push the box further, but she was abruptly tossed away by the Angel's powerful attack.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The vibrations from the emitter seemed to be affecting the Angel. Unfortunately it was not enough. The Angel managed to fire its invisible weapon at Unit 01. The purple EVA was picked up and slammed into the ground. Tai didn't waste time thinking. He folded his wings and ran toward the Angel while its attention was still on Michiru. At the last second, he dove, shoving one of the emitters as far under the Angel as possible.  
  
The reaction was immediate. The second the black cube passed under the Angel, it began to vibrate violently. The Angel almost seemed to be freezing, its liquid surface losing its reflective quality and hardening over. A horrible screech, like cracking ice magnified a thousand times, arose as the giant sphere continued to harden.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Her unceremonious landing had knocked the wind out of Michiru. She sat up when she heard an unearthly metallic scream coming from the Angel. Tai had shoved one of the other emitters underneath it and now it was desperately struggling against the hardening of its body.  
  
"Tai!" She yelled, leveling her rifle at the Angel once more. "Get out of the way!"  
  
Behind the Angel, she saw Unit 14 roll out of the way. "I'm clear!" Tai called.  
  
Michiru took aim and pumped three rounds into the newly solid parts of the Angel. The energy blasts sank into the Angel, causing it to glow slightly and sending huge cracks along the surface. The cracks grew as the glowing intensified. Michiru and Tai shielded their eyes as a brilliant explosion blew the Angel apart, showering them with shards of silvery debris.  
  
* * * * *  
  
An hour or so later, the thrill of victory was wearing off. Michiru sat in the briefing room as Dr. Ibuki went over what they had learned about the Angel. She was having trouble paying attention though. Something was bugging her, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  
  
"It would seem the Angel used the same seismic waves it attacked with to burrow through the ground. That's what caused all of those earthquakes." The doctor said. "Unfortunately, most of the Angel's body was destroyed so we can't really study its physiology as well as I'd like to."  
  
"Well that's a small price to pay." Misato said.  
  
"Agreed." Dr. Ibuki replied.  
  
Misato turned to Tai and Michiru. "You two were terrific out there." She said. "The Angel was destroyed with no damage to the EVAs. And none of the Angel's earthquakes damaged the city either."  
  
"All right!" Tai said. "That's great!"  
  
"Yeah....." Michiru said quietly. "That's great."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato knew something was wrong the second she stepped through the door. Michiru was sitting on the living room sofa, her knees drawn up to her chin. On the T.V., the video of their reunion party in 2016 played with the sound turned off. Misato couldn't tell for sure, but it looked as though Michiru had been crying.  
  
"Michiru?" She asked. "Are you okay?"  
  
Michiru didn't respond. She seemed to be in her own world, barely aware of another presence in the room.   
  
"Michiru?" Misato said, sitting down next to Michiru. "What's wrong?"  
  
Michiru began talking as if she hadn't even heard the question. "When I was fourteen, I got to look through my computer records at the orphanage. I wanted to find out about my parents, but all I found was how they died: Injuries Resulting from Earthquake. I spent the next four years...wondering how *I* managed to survive when both of them were killed. It...never even occurred to me that...maybe that wasn't how they really died. Then today...that Angel caused all those earthquakes and......there wasn't a single bit of damage. Not one brick out of place."  
  
"Yeah...." Misato said.  
  
"Yeah." Michiru repeated. "Turns out Tokyo 3 was built to withstand seismic activity. It's pretty much impossible to die in an earthquake in this city. So...I...kind of have to wonder....." She looked directly into Misato's eyes. "What really happened to them?"  
  
Misato sighed. Part of her had hoped Michiru would never ask her that question. She didn't want to relive this story by telling it. But Michiru had a right to know the truth about her parents. Misato took a deep breath, and began speaking...  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and began to speak.  
  
"When the Angels were awakened after Second Impact, everyone was in a rush to explain what was happening. Then...a group of men, including your Grandfather began comparing prophecies contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls to what had already happened. They theorized a scenario involving seventeen "messengers", otherwise known as Angels, based on the prophecies in the scrolls."  
  
"What does this have to do with my parents?" Michiru asked.  
  
"More than you might think." Misato replied. "The EVA's were created to combat the Angels when they arrived. And three pilots were chosen. Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Soryu, and Shinji Ikari. When the Angels arrived, they fought them. It was a long, hard war. But in the end, they won. All seventeen Angels were destroyed. We all thought it was over, and we went back to our lives. Your parents grew up. They fell in love, got married..." She smiled. "...they had you." Her smile faded into a frown. "Our best guess is...that the Dead Sea Scrolls must have been translated wrong. Four months after you were born, the Eighteenth Angel appeared. It wasn't really much more than a big, floating fire. But we weren't expecting it. We couldn't scramble the EVA's in time. It...got inside headquarters...into the Terminal Level."  
  
"Terminal Level?"  
  
Misato hesitated. "What I'm about to tell you is the biggest secret in the entire world, Michiru. Bigger than the EVAs, bigger than the Angels. Bigger than anything."  
  
"Okay." Michiru said. She knew NERV had secrets, but from Misato's behavior, this had to be THE secret of all time.  
  
Misato sighed. "Okay. The first two Angels were known as Adam and Lillith. Both were found at the South Pole. Second Impact was caused when Adam was accidentally awakened. The rest of the Angels are drawn to Adam and Lillith. If they ever make contact with either one...then that's it. Life as we know it would cease to exist. And since we found that nothing we did could actually kill Lillith, it became necessary instead to hide her from the Angels. Right now, Lillith is hidden in the LCL Plant underneath Headquarters. In the Terminal Level."  
  
"And....the Angel found her?"  
  
"Yes." Misato nodded. "We couldn't get the EVAs there but...your parents, and Rei went after it on foot." She smiled sadly. "They didn't even have a plan. They just went after it. They tried to fight it with guns and......it killed Rei. It trapped them in the LCL Plant. The only way they could kill it was to flood the chamber with EVA coolant. It worked but.......they couldn't get out. They died together."  
  
Michiru could already feel tears running from her eyes, but Misato wasn't done talking yet. "The last time I saw Asuka, she made me promise that I would take care of you." Now Misato was crying too. "And I wanted to. I did. But, after they died...the government took you away. We weren't allowed anywhere near you until you turned eighteen. I promised them I would take care of you and.....I couldn't."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The snow covering the narrow path was fresh. No one had come here since the snow had fallen the night before. In the early morning light, the cemetery was an endless field of white powder.  
  
"Want me to come with you?" Tai asked.  
  
"No." Michiru said. "I mean...I think I need to do it alone, this time at least."  
  
"Ok." Tai said. He kissed her lightly. "I'll wait here."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Michiru walked a few hundred feet down the path, checking her map occasionally. The snow beneath her feet crunched softly. Finally she found what she was looking for. Two stones, side by side. The markers were the kind that lay flat on the ground, and Michiru had to brush off a thin layer of snow to read the writing.  
  
Shinji Ikari  
Loving Husband, Devoted Father  
2000-2023  
  
Asuka Soryu-Ikari  
Beloved Wife, Caring Mother  
2001-2023  
  
Tears rolled down her face as she knelt and placed a small bunch of flowers on the ground between the graves. She stood up, blinking back the tears. She hadn't intended to say anything. These were just graves after all, not her parent's themselves. But she couldn't help herself.  
  
"I'm sorry I haven't come here before." She began. "I guess the standard orphanage dream is that your parents are still alive somewhere. I was afraid to come here; because I didn't want to accept that...you're gone. And I'm never going to know you." She broke down in tears. Several minutes passed before she was able to speak again.   
  
"I...don't think I'm going to come here again." She said. "I didn't realize it would hurt this much. I just want you to know that...I know the truth now. I know what you did, even if no one else does. And it makes me so proud to be your daughter. I love you both. I wish you could know....how much I love you."  
  
"They know." Michiru turned quickly at the sound of another voice.  
  
"Misato?" Misato wore a melancholy smile and held two plain white roses. "What are you doing here?" Michiru asked.  
  
"I always come here today." Misato replied, kneeling down to place a rose on each grave. "So you decided to come after all."  
  
Michiru nodded. "I had....something to tell them."  
  
"Yeah. I heard."  
  
"Is it...possible to miss someone you never knew?"  
  
"Of course it is."  
  
Michiru couldn't hold her tears back any more. "I miss them!" She sobbed. "I want them back!"  
  
Misato took Michiru in her arms and, for the second time, gave the girl a shoulder to cry on. "I know." She whispered, letting her own tears fall. "So do I."  
  
To be continued....  
  
  
  
* * * * * 


	7. A Wing and a Prayer Duel at 20,00 Feet!

* * * * *  
Legal Stuff: Neon Genesis Evangelion doesn't belong to me. Its characters don't either. My characters do belong to me. Any persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.  
* * * * *  
Dedication: To my sister, the harlequin romance novelist, who helped me write the romantic sequences near the end. And to Ogre, who helped me fill in a huge hole that I had inadvertently left in this chapter's plot. Thank you both.  
* * * * *  
Author's note: Damn this is late! A lot of factors contributed to this chapter's lateness; too many to go into here. Let's just say that I'm truly sorry to all my readers for making you wait so long and I hope this hasn't caused you to lose interest.  
* * * * *  
* * * * *  
  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:7- A Wing and A Prayer/ Duel at 20,000 feet!  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Unit 01's pilot is nearing the contamination zone Doctor."   
  
"Alright." Maya acknowledged the technician's report. "Fix the plug depth and begin the test." She switched on her link to Michiru's test plug. "Any idea where Tai is?" She asked.  
  
Michiru shook her head. "He should have been here by now." She said. "He didn't say anything about running late."  
  
"Well we can't hold up the test for him any longer." Maya said. "Begin recording."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai hated being late, especially when it wasn't his fault. And this time, it definitely wasn't his fault. A ten-car pileup on the only route to headquarters wasn't something he had control over. Of course, he already knew what his superiors would see as the cause of his tardiness.  
  
"So you were late because of soccer practice?" Dr. Ibuki seemed very exasperated.  
  
"No ma'am." Tai replied. "I was late because the streets were blocked off when I came here *from* practice. It's not my fault." Those four words sounded truly pathetic, even to Tai, but he said them anyway because they were the truth.  
  
The doctor sighed. "I hate doing this." She said. "I appreciate that you're helping the school and all, but it's not your job. EVA is."  
  
"What do you mean?" Tai asked.  
  
"We can't keep rearranging the training schedule to fit the soccer schedule. And we can't tolerate lateness related to that schedule." She said. "We already have to play musical chairs with your classes. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to drop the soccer."  
  
"You're serious aren't you?"  
  
"Very serious." Dr. Ibuki replied. "Hopefully this will all be over soon and you can go back to it."  
  
"Yeah." Tai muttered. "That's likely.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Junior High School girl's soccer team practiced every weekday after school. Monday afternoon, Tai met with the head coach, Mr. Yuki.   
  
"Tai." The older man greeted him. "You're here early."  
  
"Well...I needed to talk to you before practice." Tai said.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Remember I told you a while back that I took a second job?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well they...want me to...work more hours." Tai said. "With this new schedule they've got me on...I'm not going to be able to help here anymore."  
  
"Really?" Mr. Yuki sighed. "Well I'm sorry to hear that. You make a good coach."  
  
"Thank you." Tai said. "I'm sorry." He added.  
  
Mr. Yuki nodded. "You want me to tell the girls?" He asked.  
  
"No." Tai said. "I'll...tell them myself.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Empress of India was one of the largest cruise ships ever built. It had room for over five thousand passengers, not even counting the crew. It was equipped with every conceivable countermeasure against anything that might potentially go wrong at sea. In every way, the Empress was designed to assure complete and utter safety for its passengers.  
  
The magnificent ship never stood a chance.  
  
Twenty miles west of the Hawaiian Islands, the navigation equipment detected a sharp drop in the depth of the surrounding water. Before anything could be done, a huge mass surface directly beneath the helpless ship. The ship capsized and slid off of the rapidly rising object, falling hundreds of feet into the ocean below.  
  
The Angel continued to ascend, oblivious to the thousands of deaths it had just caused. Even if it had possessed the mental processes to comprehend what had just happened, it would not have cared. It was being called, and it responded. To the Angel, nothing else even existed, let alone mattered.  
  
* * * * *  
  
As soon as the last bell of the day rang, Machiko Suzahara headed straight for the locker room to get ready for practice. Her teammates seemed content to hang out in the hallway, chatting and laughing. If it were up to Machiko, practice would start earlier, giving the other girls no time to waste gossiping. Unfortunately only the coaches could make decisions like that.   
  
"What's your rush, Machiko?" Nanami, their goalie asked as Machiko rushed past her.  
  
"We've got a game this weekend." Machiko replied. "Or did you forget?"  
  
Nanami gave her a dirty look. "Of course I didn't forget." She said. "But practice doesn't start for half an hour."  
  
"What do you all have against showing up early?" Machiko demanded. "It shows responsibility."  
  
"It's called 'brown-nosing', Machiko." Nanami said. "Not responsibility."  
  
"Leave her alone." The team's point guard, Yohko, stuck her head around the corner. "She just wants to spend some extra time with 'Mr. Matsumoto'."  
  
"THAT'S NOT IT!" Machiko screamed, turning bright red.  
  
"Sure it is." Yohko insisted, grinning from ear to ear. "You've had a crush on Tai from day one. Everyone knows it."  
  
"You can shut up now!" Machiko said.  
  
"Hey we're on your side, Machiko." Nanami said. "It's very, very sad."  
  
"What is?"  
  
"That he's taken." Nanami replied.  
  
"Taken?" Machiko asked.  
  
"Yeah." Nanami said. "You know; attached, dating, no longer single."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"My big sister goes to the same college as him." Nanami replied. "We got to talking about practice one day and I mentioned Tai and she said he's dating some girl in their English class."  
  
"Hmmm." Yohko sighed. "What a waste."  
  
"Yeah." Machiko agreed. "That's gotta be the luckiest girl in the world."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I swear to God! I am the unluckiest person in the world!" Michiru whined.  
  
"Luck has nothing to do with it." Captain Aida informed her.  
  
"I'm supposed to hit a moving target that I can't see with a weapon I've never used before." Michiru said. "Exactly which part of this *doesn't* involve luck?"  
  
"The rockets will seek the target if it's within range." Kensuke replied. "All you have to do is aim them in the target's general direction."  
  
"That would be *a lot* easier if I could *see* the target." Michiru said.  
  
Kensuke sighed. "We *know* you can hit a target you can see." He said. "We want to know if you can hit a target that you can only *hear*."  
  
"I just assumed it was a lateral thinking problem." Michiru muttered. "How long will I try to hit it before I wise up and turn on the IR filter?"  
  
"That's not it." Kensuke said with an amused smile. "It's important that you be able to fight in reduced visibility *without* Infra-Red."  
  
"Just promise me you'll make Tai do this once he gets here." She said. "Okay, Let's get it over with."  
  
* * * * *  
  
If telling the team that he was leaving had been hard for Tai, seeing the looks on their faces immediately after he told them was nearly impossible.  
  
"What do you mean?" The team captain, Machiko, asked. "You don't mean *leaving*, do you?"  
  
"I mean I can't be your coach anymore." Tai said.  
  
"Why not?" One of the girls demanded.  
  
"It's because of my other job." Tai said. "I'm sorry."  
  
"But we need you." Machiko said. "We have a game on Saturday." Murmured agreements flowed back and forth between the rest of the girls.  
  
"You'll do fine without me." Tai said. "You're the best team I've ever coached."  
  
"We're the *only* team you've ever coached." Machiko said derisively.   
  
Tai was about to respond to that when his cell phone began ringing. He unfolded the small phone and placed it to his ear. As he expected, a recorded voice immediately began speaking to him.   
  
"Private Matsumoto. You're presence is required at headquarters. Return immediately."  
  
Tai sighed and put the phone away. "Speaking of my job..." He said. He looked at the girls again. They all seemed very upset. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you myself instead of Mr. Yuki. Now go practice, and don't slack off." He added, smiling. "I expect you girls to kick ass on Saturday."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"How old is this information?" Toji demanded, staring in anger at the image on the main screen. Once again, the enemy had taken them by surprise.   
  
"Russian spy satellite spotted it off the coast of Hawaii about an hour before it surfaced." Corporal Tanaka reported. "By the time they realized this was our jurisdiction, it was already in the air."  
  
"It took out a cruise ship on its way up." Her older sister said. "Seven-thousand dead."  
  
"And it's definitely an Angel?"  
  
"Yes, Sir." Minako continued. "Waveform analysis is blue."  
  
Toji nodded and turned to Lieutenant Kusanagi. "How long until we have a visual?"  
  
"We have a recon plane on the way right now." The younger man replied. "It should reach the target within twelve minutes."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This is what we know so far." Major Suzahara said. As he spoke, he pointed to the large screen at the front of the briefing room. The screen currently displayed a map of the Pacific Ocean with a large, blue dot near Hawaii. "The Twenty-Second Angel was first sighted off the Hawaiian Coast at approximately 16:00 hours this afternoon. At 16:45, it began to rise, ascending to an altitude of nearly 20,000 feet by 17:50. It's currently headed for Tokyo 3. It will pass over the Geofront at 10:00 hours four days from now.  
  
He pressed a button on a small remote control and the image changed. The screen now showed what looked like a huge, flesh-colored disc.   
  
"This is the Angel." The Major said. "No weapons are visible, but you can clearly see where the Core is exposed." He pointed to a raised area in the center of the disc. Looking at it, Michiru was struck by how tiny the Angel's Core looked.  
  
"How big is that thing?" She asked.  
  
"The Angel has a diameter of roughly...twenty-three miles." Toji replied.  
  
"WHAT!?" Michiru cried. "That's impossible."  
  
"Just another day at the office." Tai muttered.  
  
"You seem pretty calm." Misato said, throwing a sideways glance at Tai.  
  
Tai shrugged. "Last time it was a giant marble, now it's a twenty-three mile Frisbee."  
  
"Good." Misato said, smiling. "Then you won't have any trouble taking it on alone."  
  
"WHAT!?" Tai nearly fell out of his chair.  
  
"The Angel has to be destroyed over the ocean." Toji said. "If it fell on Tokyo 3 from *any* altitude it would crush most of the city and probably collapse the Geofront."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Believe me." Misato interrupted. "We wouldn't send you alone if we had a choice. But Unit 14 is the only EVA that can reach the Angel at its current altitude. So this mission will be divided into two positions, Attack and Back-up. 'Attack' will fly to the Target in Unit 14 and destroy it."  
  
"Uh...you're forgetting something." Tai said. "I can't fly!"  
  
Misato sighed. "Well you've got three days to learn."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Okay, Tai." Dr. Ibuki said. "Extend wings."  
  
Tai nodded. A second later, two hidden cavities in Unit 14's shoulders slid open and its huge, bat-like wings sprang into view. The EVA, already massive, seemed to double in size with the wings fully unfurled.   
  
"Are you *sure* this thing can fly?" Tai asked, casting a dubious glance across the lake, to where he was supposed to land. Assuming he could even get off the ground.   
  
"We designed it specifically so that the wings would be large enough to generate adequate lift." Major Suzahara replied. "It can fly. Now start flapping."  
  
Tai sighed and tried to concentrate. Moving the EVA's arms and legs was easy. He had arms and legs. Flexing muscles that no human had *ever* had was another story. "Okay. Wings." Tai whispered to himself. "Wings. Wings."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Toji watched as Unit 14's wings slowly began flapping. After a few dozen beats, Tai's confidence seemed to increase. The wings began beating faster and faster. Before long, the Evangelion began to rise slowly until it hovered a few meters above the floor of the Geofront.  
  
Standing next to him, Dr. Ibuki opened the video link to Unit 14.  
  
"Good work Tai." She said. "Now fly across the lake just like we showed you."  
  
"Alright." Tai said. Outside, Unit 14 began, ever so slowly, to drift forward. Tai made it nearly halfway across the lake. Then, without warning, the tip of one wing hit the water. Unit 14 dropped like a stone, sending a huge wave across the lake and sinking to the bottom.  
  
"Well *that* was fun." Tai muttered.  
  
"Great." Toji said, shutting off the link and glancing at the large clock that had been installed above the main control deck. "Less than forty-eight hours left and this is the best he can do? Halfway across at five miles an hour less than fifteen feet off the ground!"  
  
"Don't worry." Maya said. "He'll get the hang of it."  
  
"I hope so." Toji said. "We can't afford to let it reach the Back-up position."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"We've already got a weapon lined up for Michiru, but we're having a hell of a time figuring out what to give you, Tai." Captain Aida said as he led them through the ordinance warehouse. Every conceivable variety of edged or projectile weapon was there; scaled up for the Evangelions' dramatic size, of course.  
  
"Well the Positron Rifle's out." Tai said. "I need something that I'll be able to drop if I have to."  
  
"Right, but that leaves us with the problem of firepower. You need a one-handed weapon, but there's not a pistol in the world that can do the kind of damage we need."  
  
Something on the far side of the hangar caught Tai's eye.  
  
"Maybe we're thinking along the wrong lines." He said.  
  
"How so?" Captain Aida asked.  
  
"Maybe the right kind of gun is no gun at all." He pointed. "How about that?" Hanging on the far wall, gleaming in the fluorescent lights, was a huge, double bladed sword.  
  
"A sword?"  
  
"Sure." Tai said. "I probably won't have time to aim a gun up there anyway. With a sword, I won't need too much accuracy."  
  
Captain Aida still looked skeptical.  
  
"Hey, I carried that thing back with me for a reason." Tai said. No need to explain that the 'reason' was to use it as a makeshift cane, having been in far too much pain to walk on his own. "I might as well get some use out of it."  
  
"Okay. Your call."  
  
"Great." Tai said. "Now can you spare me for a few minutes, I need to go see someone."  
  
"Sure." Kensuke replied. "All we have left is Michiru's weapon. I don't need you for that."  
  
"Okay. Thanks." Tai turned and headed for the elevator.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Well...that sure is...a big gun." Michiru said. In fact, the 'gun' was enormous. Michiru was fairly sure that, were it set on its end, the rifle would be nearly as tall as Unit 01, if not taller. "I think I prefer the smaller one."  
  
"The standard issue positron rifle doesn't have the kind of accuracy we need." Captain Aida said, staring at the huge gun like it was a late Christmas present. "Luckily I found this bad boy in the ordinance hangar. Apparently they borrowed it from the Self Defense Force twenty-five years ago and never got around to giving it back." He shrugged.  
  
"It looks awkward. Not a lot of mobility with a gun that size." Michiru said. She grinned and shook her head. She was starting to sound a little *too* much like a soldier.  
  
"Well it's not an assault weapon if that's what you mean." Kensuke said. "It's a sniper rifle."  
  
"And what am I going to be doing with it?"  
  
"Well if Tai...fails to destroy the Angel, you will attempt to destroy its core while it's still out in the harbor."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey, Doc!"  
  
Maya turned to see Tai standing in the doorway of her office.  
  
"Tai?" She asked. "Aren't you supposed to be in the test plug?"  
  
"Yeah." He said. "You got a minute?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Run this by me one more time." Michiru said. "I aim at the Angel's core, and then...?"  
  
"Then you give the control motors a second or two to adjust before firing. When you fire, the other guns will hit the exact same point as yours." Captain Aida said.  
  
"Is this really going to work?" Misato asked dubiously.  
  
"Well the Magi gave this a higher success probability than any of the other scenarios we ran."  
  
"Forty-nine percent." Toji clarified. "Not exactly a glowing recommendation."  
  
"It's the highest we could get." Kensuke said. "Besides, this probably won't even be necessary. Unless..."  
  
"Just say it!" Michiru yelled, finally fed up. "Unless Tai gets killed!"  
  
"Michiru..." Misato said.  
  
"Well that's what he would have said if I hadn't been standing here, isn't it?" She asked. "Everyone's been tiptoeing around the subject like they're afraid of scaring me or something. Well I know, all right! I know he might die! And trailing off in the middle of every sentence only makes me think about it more and that's the last thing I need right now, okay?"  
  
Michiru turned and stormed out of the briefing room. Halfway to the test chamber, she stopped. She wanted to go back, to apologize for snapping. But at the same time, she wanted to stand by what she had said. This entire situation was driving her insane.  
  
It was bad enough that she and Tai had to operate separately. They had both gotten used to working as a team. They worked best together. But they couldn't work together this time. Even worse, they weren't even allowed to train together. Besides a few 'work related' minutes here and there, Michiru had barely even seen Tai since he began his emergency flight training.  
  
Michiru glanced at her watch and did some math in her head. Thirty hours left. She was already beginning to feel fear and she wasn't even the one who would be fighting. And then she realized what she was afraid of. And why.  
  
All thoughts of going back and apologizing left her mind. She resumed her path to the test chamber. She didn't care if she interrupted the training schedule. She had to talk to Tai.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You have headaches every time you pilot EVA?" Dr. Ibuki asked.  
  
Tai nodded. "Even after synch tests."  
  
"I hope you have a good reason for not telling me until now."  
  
"No." Tai admitted. "Actually it's a pretty stupid one. I was afraid that I'd have to stop piloting if I told you. I...can't do that."  
  
Dr. Ibuki sighed. "Well you certainly can't stop *now*." She said. "I assume you've tried Aspirin?" He nodded. "Alright, let me give you something a little stronger for now. And I want to run a complete exam as soon as this mission is over."  
  
"Okay." Tai said. "Thanks Doc."  
  
"Private Tai Matsumoto, please report to briefing room four immediately." A voice came over the intercom.  
  
"They're playing your song." Dr. Ibuki said. "I'll have those painkillers for you by the next test."  
  
Tai nodded and left the clinic. He'd been expecting to be summoned back to the test chamber for another run in the simulators. This wasn't an unwelcome change, however. He couldn't imagine what they wanted him in the briefing room for, but anything was better than another skull-splitting headache.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Sorry, I came as fast as I could." Tai said quickly as he entered the small briefing room, obviously expecting some kind of official meeting or instructional lecture. From the look on his face, he definitely hadn't been expecting to see Michiru.  
  
"Hi." She said quietly.  
  
"Michiru?" Tai asked. He looked around.  
  
Michiru smiled. "There's no one else here." She said. "I need to talk to you alone."  
  
"Okay." Tai said.  
  
"I just went super-bitch on Misato a little while ago and...it took me a while to realize why. See...everyone's talking about this fight like...I don't know; like they're trying not to scare me or something. Like they don't want me to know that you might...get hurt. And I just now realized why that bothered me so much." Michiru said.  
  
"Why?" Tai asked.  
  
"Because I *am* scared." She said. "I'm terrified that you're going to get hurt. Or killed. I'm scared that I'm going to lose you. I'm so scared because...because I love you, Tai. I know we've only been together a little while but...I also know...that you're the only person I'll ever want." She put her arms around Tai, burying her face in his chest.   
  
"I just had to tell you that." She whispered. "In case...we don't see each other again."  
  
"What do you mean?" Tai asked. "Of course we'll see each other again. You think I'm going to let this Angel beat me?"  
  
Michiru shook her head. "It's not that." She said. "I know you can beat it. It's just...remember how I told you my parents were EVA pilots?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Oh." Tai realized what she was saying. He immediately hugged her tighter. "Listen to me, Michiru." He said. "I am not going to die. I promise."   
  
* * * * *  
  
"Altitude?"  
  
"20,450 feet." Tai said, checking the altimeter that had been hastily installed in his entry plug.  
  
"Speed?"  
  
"Two-hundred knots."  
  
"You should have visual on the Angel in a few seconds." Major Suzahara said.  
  
Tai nodded and peered through the clouds in front of him. Up ahead, the clouds seemed to thicken unnaturally.   
  
"Something's wrong." He said. "The cloud cover's too thick. I can't see the Angel."  
  
"Go to Infra-Red."   
  
The computer drive behind Tai's seat hummed softly as it calculated the new data. In an instant, the field of white in front of him was replaced by a murky red. In the center of his vision, like a giant floating wall, was the Angel.   
  
"Energy buildup!" Tai heard Lieutenant Kusanagi yell.   
  
He scanned the Angel's visible surface for any sign of an impending attack, but saw none. Suddenly, hundreds of pencil-thin beams of energy erupted from the Angel. Tai tried to dive under them but to no avail. Pain shot through his back as Unit 14's massive wings were shredded. A sickening sensation of weightlessness filled the pit of his stomach as the EVA plummeted toward the ocean below him.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai awoke with a start, nearly falling out of bed. For several minutes her lay still, breathing deeply, his skin slick with a cold sweat. He glanced at the clock by his bed. Eight hours until he launched.   
  
Tai knew it was foolish to worry. Everything that could be done had been. He could fly better than some birds and that was all he needed to know. He *would* kill the Angel. There was no other option.  
  
However, knowing that worry was foolish didn't automatically make the worry go away. The fact was, Tai was scared. He had fought an Angel before, and those insane EVAs. But he'd had Michiru with him those times. Michiru wouldn't be there with him this time. She would be staying on land, part of a backup plan that no one seriously expected to work. Everything was riding on him.  
  
There was no point in trying to go back to sleep. He knew he would be unable to. Sighing heavily, Tai rose and headed for the bathroom.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Steady...steady......steady..."  
  
"Listen, any steadier and I won't be moving, alright!" Michiru snapped.  
  
"Precision is extremely important." Captain Aida said. "The other rifles are going to hit the exact spot you do. It's up to you to make sure that it's the right spot."  
  
"Why are we still even worrying about this?" Michiru asked. "That Angel won't even get close enough for me to *see* it. Much less shoot it."  
  
"While I appreciate your optimism, you know we have to be prepared for any eventuality." Misato said.  
  
"I know." Michiru replied. "But I honestly think I'm as ready as I can be."  
  
"One more time." Kensuke said. "Then you can get some rest before we launch."  
  
Michiru sighed and nodded. The blank walls in front of her dissolved, revealing a simulation of New Yokosuka, where the Angel was expected to hit land. On either side of her were twenty-five positron rifles, fifty in all, each linked to her own rifle through a sophisticated system of transmitters and servomotors.  
  
A small dot in the distance began to grow steadily larger. As the Angel approached, Michiru leveled her huge rifle at it. She heard whirring sounds on either side of her as the other rifles tracked her aim. When the Angel was close enough, Michiru revised her aim, waited for the other guns to catch up, and squeezed the trigger.  
  
A blinding beam of energy shot from her rifle. Simultaneously, the fifty rifles next to her fired as well. The beams converged on each other, connecting right as they hit the Angel. A second later, the simulated enemy vanished.  
  
"Good." Kensuke said, as the simulated city was once again replaced by the blank walls of the test chamber. "Unless we've drastically underestimated the Angel's armor or its AT Field, a shot like that should burn straight through it and destroy its core."  
  
"Great." Michiru said. "Can I take a break now."  
  
"Go ahead." Misato replied. "Be back in the cage ready to launch in one hour though."  
  
"Got it."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Okay." Major Suzahara said. "Let's run down the plan one more time."  
  
"The transport flies over the Angel and drops me onto it. I use whatever means necessary to destroy the core. Then I fly away and land on the aircraft carrier." Tai said. "Pretty simple actually." He added.  
  
"Don't let your guard down." The Major warned. "We still have no idea what that Angel is capable of."  
  
"Trust me;" Tai assured him. "My guard is up."  
  
* * * * *  
  
A NERV helicopter took them to New Yokosuka. They could already see Unit 01 in position among the line of positron rifles. A special carrier plane was waiting at a nearby airfield, Unit 14 already fastened to its underside.  
  
A moment of awkward silence passed between Tai and Michiru as the helicopter touched down. Michiru unfastened her seatbelt and stood up. She was about to slide the door open when she heard movement behind her. She turned and saw Tai standing up. He crossed the space between them and took her in his arms. Michiru laid her head on his shoulder, feeling the warmth of his skin through his plug suit.   
  
"Please be careful." She whispered.  
  
"I will." He said.   
  
"Say it again."  
  
"It?"  
  
"Promise me you won't die."  
  
Tai's response was to gently turn her face up and place his lips gently on hers. "I promise."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Everything running okay in there?" Misato asked.  
  
"Everything's fine." Michiru said absently, staring at the black carrier plane as it glided slowly out to sea.  
  
"Michiru." Misato said. "Try to focus."  
  
"I'm trying." Michiru replied. But in fact, she barely heard a word the support crewmembers said until long after the plane had disappeared over the horizon, carrying Tai into battle.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The bridge of the USS Colin Powell was quiet as the admiral signed the forms Toji had given him.  
  
"Make a note in the log that at 0600 hours today command of this ship was transferred from Admiral Welles of the UN Combined Fleet to Major Suzahara of NERV." He said.  
  
"Aye, Sir."  
  
The admiral turned to Toji. "It's all yours, Major. Try not to sink it."  
  
"Come again?"  
  
The older man gave Toji a look reserved especially for those who usurped his command. "I was in the fleet twenty-five years ago. I was there when the Angel attacked EVA 02."  
  
"What a coincidence." Toji replied. "So was I. Don't worry, admiral. We're just using the carrier as a command center and landing zone. The Angel won't come anywhere near us."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Thirty thousand feet above the sea, Tai got his first real glimpse of the Angel. He had been told how big it was, but mere measurements couldn't really describe the immensity of the thing. Twenty-three miles had just been a number. But now here he was, facing an enemy that was, quite literally, the size of a city.  
  
"Tai." Major Suzahara's face appeared before him. "We have the carrier in position. Everything's ready."  
  
"Understood." Tai said, glancing at his plug suit's built-in watch. "Four minutes to drop zone."  
  
Four minutes passed like a second and suddenly a green light flashed above his head, signaling that it was time to begin the operation.  
  
"Releasing lock bolts."  
  
Tai felt a jolt, then a sensation of weightlessness in the pit of his stomach as Unit 14 dropped out of the carrier.  
  
"Unit 14 is away."  
  
Tai silently counted to ten. Then, taking a deep breath, he flexed the muscles in his back. Unit 14's giant wings unfolded and immediately caught air.  
  
Tai took a few seconds to adjust his grip on his sword so that the weapon's weight was evenly distributed. Then, tipping his wings slightly, he began a slow circle downward toward the Angel.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Any reaction from the target?" Toji asked.  
  
"Negative, Major." Lieutenant Kusanagi said. "Either it hasn't noticed him, or it just doesn't care."  
  
"Keep an eye on it." Toji said. "I want even the smallest change reported."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Angel was growing closer with every circle Tai made. He could see the Core now, a bright red orb against the Angel's pale skin. He suddenly had an idea. When the EVA Series attacked, two of them had tried to spear Michiru from above using swords just like this one. If he could do the same thing, a lot of time would be saved.  
  
Tai tipped his wings to make a tight turn. As soon as the Angle was beneath him, he tucked the wings in and fell toward the Angel. He held the sword in front of him like a spear, the tip perfectly in line with the Core.  
  
Tai smiled. It was almost too easy. That was when everything went wrong.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Something's happening!" Lieutenant Kusanagi called.  
  
"Is it attacking?"  
  
"Unknown." The younger man replied. "There's a slight energy buildup. And the pattern is shifting. Still blue, but it's...rearranging itself."  
  
"Tai! Pull up!" Toji yelled. "It's up to something!"  
  
"I can't! It's too late!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai watched in horror as the skin around the Angel's Core rippled and stretched. Suddenly, within inches of the blade, the Core slid to the left, moving along the Angel's surface until it was completely clear of the Evangelion.  
  
Tai couldn't stop his descent. The sword sank into the Angel's flesh. If the Angel felt pain, it made no indication of it.   
  
"Energy buildup increasing!" Lieutenant Kusanagi called over the video link. "It's reading as an electric charge!"  
  
"Tai! Let go of the sword!" Major Suzahara yelled.  
  
Again, it was too late.  
  
There were no sparks, no bolts of electricity; only a low hum. Suddenly Tai couldn't move. He felt his hands burning, but he could not let go of the sword. Every muscle in his body locked up as thousands of volts of electricity ran out of the Angel, through Unit 14, and into him. His vision was replaced by a field of blue. Then he was falling, the frantic shouts coming through the video link grew faint as he drifted, fighting but it was pointless. The last thing he saw before darkness overcame him was Michiru's face  
  
*It was a simple promise.* He thought. *I wish I could have kept it.*  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Someone talk to me!" Toji yelled.  
  
"The current's gone, but it knocked his heart out of rhythm!"  
  
"Defibrillate!"  
  
The medical technician input the command, sending a smaller jolt of electricity into the entry plug.  
  
"No effect."  
  
"Increase the voltage!"  
  
The technician tried again. "Still nothing."  
  
"AGAIN!"  
  
Before the other man could respond, the wild, erratic beeping on the EKG was replaced by a single, droning tone.  
  
"He's flat lining!"  
  
"DO SOMETHING!" Kusanagi yelled.  
  
"There's nothing else I can do!" The technician responded. "His heart's stopped! We'd need to be in there with him to do anything useful!"  
  
"But he's still alive!" Kusanagi pointed to the respiratory monitor that showed that Tai was still breathing. "Isn't there..."  
  
"Is there any way to resuscitate him from here?" Toji interrupted.  
  
The technician hesitated. "No." He finally said.  
  
Toji nodded grimly. He turned and picked up the red phone next to him. "Commander. 'Attack' is down. Proceed with 'Backup'."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"NO!" Michiru cried.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Michiru."  
  
"He's not dead yet!" Michiru sobbed. "You can't just give up on him like this!"  
  
"There's nothing we can do." Misato said. "I'm sorry."  
  
For several minutes, the radio was silent except for the sound of Michiru's sobs.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Everything was dark. But it was a warm darkness. Warm and comfortable, like a big blanket. That bothered Tai slightly. Death wasn't supposed to be comfortable, was it?  
  
*Death?* A voice rang in his head. *You think you're dead? Are you really going to give up so easily?*  
  
"What?"   
  
*You can't die yet.*  
  
"I didn't realize I got a choice." Tai replied.  
  
*There is choice in everything, Tai Matsumoto.*  
  
"How do you know my name?"  
  
*I know all about you.* The voice replied. *Perhaps more that you know about yourself.*  
  
"Who are you?" Tai asked.  
  
*In time.* The voice said. *In time, you will find the answers. Who I am, who you are, why you are here. You will know your true self. Of course none of that can happen if you are dead. Now are you ready to finish what you started?*  
  
"What's the other option?"  
  
*There is no other option! I need you alive! And I will not allow this pathetic creature to destroy you. Now GO!*  
  
* * * * *  
  
Unit 14 was slumped over, motionless. Only its death-grip on its giant sword kept the Evangelion from sliding off of the Angel and falling into the sea.  
  
Suddenly, the EVA began to move. Its four eyes flared with light. It stood up straight and ripped its weapon free from the Angel's hide. The EVA's pilot was back in control. Once again, Unit 14 was alive.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What happened?" Toji demanded.   
  
"He's back." The stunned medical technician said. "Heart beat's coming back strong and steady."  
  
"Tai!" Toji called into the video link. "Are you alright?"  
  
Tai's face appeared on the screen before them. "I'm fine." The young man said. "Kind of confused though. What the hell's going on?"  
  
"I wish we knew." Toji confessed. "The Angel electrocuted you. You were dying. What happened?"  
  
Tai looked away. His brow furrowed with concentration. "I remember...something..." He shook his head. "I don't know. It's gone now."  
  
"Uh, Major." Lieutenant Kusanagi said. "We're getting pretty close to Zero Barrier here." He pointed to the tactical map. The Angel was rapidly coming within range of Michiru's guns.  
  
"Tai, you still feel up to fighting."  
  
Tai nodded, a determined grin on his face. "Ready and willing." He said. "This son of a bitch is mine!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai scanned the Angel's surface for the Core. He spotted it moving toward the edge of the Angel and ran for it. Just as he came within striking distance, the Core changed direction, sliding out of range.  
  
Beneath him, the Angel's skin rippled slightly. Hundreds of tentacles rose around him, grabbing Unit 14's arms and legs. Tai struggled but the Angel held him fast.  
  
"Seven minutes to Zero Barrier." Lieutenant Kusanagi said.  
  
"Thanks for the reminder!" Tai growled.  
  
Shutting out all distractions, Tai focused his will on Unit 14's right arm, the arm holding the sword. He heard a high-pitched, electronic whine from the control room as his Synch Ratio shot up. The tentacles holding his arm snapped like twigs, falling away and melting back into the Angel. Tai wasted no time. He brought the sword around and sliced through the tentacles holding his left arm. The rest of the tentacles released their grip and sank back into the Angel.  
  
"Three minutes." Kusanagi reported.  
  
"Damn it!" Tai had lost the Core again. In the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red. The Core had come to rest a little less than a mile away. Without the EVA's elevated vantage point, he would never have seen it.   
  
The Angel didn't seem to like moving its core. Either that, or it could only move the Core a short distance from its center. Otherwise, it could have just slid the glowing sphere to its opposite side, where Tai could never have reached it on time. Each time he had attacked, the Core had moved just far enough to get out of range. With that thought a plan began to form in his head.  
  
"One minute!"  
  
Tai sprinted toward the core. Halfway there, he stopped and lifted his sword, heaving the weapon with all his might. The sword flew end over end toward the Core. Just as Tai had predicted, the Core moved and the sword hit bare flesh. But Tai was already in motion again. Unit 14's left shoulder plate sprang open. Tai grabbed his progressive knife, pivoted on one ankle, and hurled the knife at a bare spot on the Angel's surface. By the time the knife reached its target, the Core had come to rest right in its path.  
  
Sparks flew as the progressive knife sank into the Angel's core. Suddenly, the 'ground' beneath Tai heaved. Tentacles burst out of the Angel's surface, grabbing at Unit 14. The Angel meant to take him down with it. Tai swatted away the closest tentacles and ran for the Angel's edge. He was painfully aware of how fast they were falling. If he didn't get into the air soon, he was going to get his feet wet.  
  
The ocean was only a few hundred feet below them when Tai reached the edge. He threw himself off of the dying Angel and spread his wings, soaring high into the air. Seconds later, the Angel crashed into the sea, sending a spray of foam up around Tai.  
  
Tai circled upward to stay aloft, and to make sure nothing reached up from the sea to pull him down. Then he turned and flew toward the waiting carrier.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru was off the helicopter before it even finished touching down. Tai was waiting for her, leaning against Unit 14, looking every bit the triumphant hero. Michiru ran and threw herself at him.  
  
"You're alive!" She cried. "You're alright!"  
  
"I'm alright." Tai confirmed.  
  
Michiru stepped back and delivered a quick slap across Tai's face. "You jerk!" She yelled. "You promised you wouldn't die!"  
  
"I didn't mean to." Tai said gently. "It just kind of...happened."  
  
Michiru's expression softened a bit. "I'm just glad you're safe."  
  
"Well I had to come back." Tai said. "I realized that there was something I forgot to tell you the other day." He took her in his arms and looked into her eyes. "I love you, Michiru. I couldn't die without telling you that."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Dr. Ibuki insisted that someone else drive Tai home that night. Tai protested that he felt fine, but eventually relented. Michiru offered to take him on her way back home. They drove in relative silence. Michiru's head was full of emotions she could barely give voice to. Apparently, so was Tai's.  
  
Michiru parked the car and walked with Tai up to the door to his apartment.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked.  
  
"I'm fine." He assured her, smiling warmly. "I believe 'better than ever' were the Doc's exact words."  
  
"I know." Michiru said, looking down. "I shouldn't worry. It's just...I thought I lost you today. I don't want to lose you again."  
  
"Hey." He tilted her chin up. "I'm not going anywhere."  
  
They were both silent for a long time. Their lips met. This was not like the times they had kissed before. This was a different kind of kiss, the kind that led to something more.  
  
Michiru smiled, remembering briefly the things she had been told growing up in the orphanage. She remembered being warned about all the things good girls didn't do, except with their husbands. But those 'good girls' weren't in her situation. They weren't in love; and living with the knowledge that they or the man they loved might not live to see the next day.   
  
Besides, Michiru had always taken a dim view to those lessons anyway. In the end, it all came down to love, at least in her opinion. And if two people were truly in love, what difference did a ring and a piece of paper make?  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai awoke in the middle of the night. He had heard a voice in his dreams, the same voice that had spoken to him earlier that day when he was half dead in Unit 14. Why couldn't he remember what it said?  
  
He felt movement next to him. Sitting up from his dreams, he had accidentally woken Michiru.   
  
"Sorry." He whispered, kissing her lightly.  
  
"s'okay." She mumbled. She rested her head lightly on his shoulder. Within seconds, she was fast asleep again.  
  
Tai lay awake for a long time, just looking at her. Her eyes were heavy with sleep. The moonlight that filtered through the windows made her hair shine. Her flawless skin still glowed with the memory of their lovemaking. She was so beautiful she almost seemed unreal. It frightened Tai to think how close he had come to never seeing her again.   
  
"I love you." He whispered. "I'll never leave you."  
  
As Tai drifted back to sleep, he almost heard the voice again. He could just barely make out the words, echoing in his mind.  
  
*In time, you will find the answers. Who I am, who you are, why you are here. You will know your true self.*  
  
* * * * *  
  
To Be Continued.... 


	8. The Eighth Child!

* * * * *   
Legal Stuff: As I have said *countless* times before, I did not create Neon Genesis Evangelion. That means that Misato, Toji, Kensuke, the Skipper, and everyone else who appeared in the TV Series aren't mine. I did create a lot of new stuff for this story. That means that Michiru, Tai, the new EVAs, and everyone else who *didn't* appear in the series belongs to me.  
* * * * *  
Dedication: Once again, to those of you who have stuck with this story despite the occasional patch of bad grammar and intolerable delays. You know who you are, and I thank you both. ;)  
* * * * *  
  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:8- The Eighth Child!  
  
* * * * *  
  
A soft alarm buzzed. The two test plugs opened simultaneously.   
  
"Good job you two." Maya said. In the test chamber, Tai nodded and Michiru gave her a 'thumbs-up'. "Okay, you guys can go now."  
  
"Is it just me, or did both their scores make a big jump since the last test?" Minako asked.  
  
"Hmm..." Maya said, examining the readouts from the Synch test. "You're right. I wonder what that's all about."  
  
"I've got a pretty good idea." Misato said, smiling. Actually, she'd had a pretty good idea for almost a week. Ever since the night after the Twenty-second Angel was killed, the night Michiru drove Tai home...and never made it back to the apartment.  
  
"You do?"  
  
"I seem to recall the same thing happening to Shinji's Synch Ratio...a few months after he and Asuka got together."  
  
Maya caught on a second later. "You think they're...?" She asked in a shocked voice.  
  
"You think they're not?" Misato asked.  
  
"I...never really thought about it." Maya admitted.  
  
Misato shrugged. "They're in love." She said. "It's perfectly natural."  
  
"Well, yeah but...do you think it's a good idea? I mean, under these circumstances?"  
  
"It's not my decision." Misato said. "They're both adults. They're entitled to make their own choices." But secretly, she hoped that this choice wouldn't prove to be a bad one. For Michiru's sake, she hoped Tai was all that he seemed to be, and nothing that he didn't.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Later that night, Maya Ibuki sat in her office, typing furiously at her computer. She had added Tai to the list of pilots, but every query to the Magi still turned up nothing. She had tried everything she could think of. When she first began looking for pilots, she had still thought that age was a factor; that only fourteen-year-old children could synchronize. That theory had been shot out of the water by Michiru, and later by Tai. Since then she had been desperately searching for any connection between the pilots, no matter how insignificant.   
  
It had long been the belief of everyone at NERV that some sort of genetic mutation was responsible for the ability to pilot the Evangelions. Maya was currently testing that theory, running DNA profiles of all the pilots.  
  
"Working late?" Maya spun around to see Misato standing in the doorway.  
  
"Oh, Commander. You startled me." She said.  
  
"Sorry." Misato apologized. "What are you doing here so late?"  
  
"I'm just trying to work out this pilot thing. I'm starting to think we may never find the answer."  
  
Misato came further into the room and stood over her. "No luck, huh?"  
  
"There are just too many factors to consider." Maya said. "I can't even begin to find a base group for testing."  
  
Misato sighed. "I have an idea." She finally said. "I didn't want to bring it up except as a last resort..."  
  
"We're there." Maya said. "I've tried everything I can think of."  
  
Misato let out another deep sigh. "Try 707."  
  
"707?" Maya asked. The number sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.  
  
"Magi Code 707." Misato said. "You might find an answer there." She turned and walked out the door, leaving Maya alone in the office.  
  
Maya turned back to her computer and called up a connection with the Magi. She entered Code 707 and was presented with a list of names.  
  
Aida, Kensuke  
Asotsu, Hayao  
Ayanami, Rei *1*  
Daibo, Ryoko  
Ebihara, Masanori  
Horaki, Hikari  
Ikari, Shinji *3*  
Ishikawa, Hanako  
Isomi, Akito  
Kadokawa, Hotaru  
Osaka, Megumi  
Soryu, Asuka Langley *2*  
Suzahara, Toji *4*  
Tanaka, Shiroh  
Yamada, Mamoru  
Yuy, Heero  
  
She stared at the list for a minute. All four original pilots were on it, but who were the others? The numbers by some of the names caught her eye. Rei was the First Child. On the list, her name was marked with the number '1'. Shinji was the Third Child. His name bore a '3'. Maya began typing quickly.  
  
--Source?--  
  
TOKYO 3 JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL CLASS LIST, CLASS 2-A, 2015  
  
Why did a Junior High class in 2015 have a file in the Magi system?  
  
--Trace File-- She typed, hoping to find which section of NERV had used the file.  
  
SPECIAL PROJECTS, FURTHER ACCESS REQUIRES LEVEL 4 CLEARANCE  
  
Maya's eyes widened. Level 4 was the highest security clearance one could have. She smiled. In 2015, when this information was new, she couldn't have gotten near it. That was not the case any more.  
  
--Authorization: Ibuki-22A56-- She typed.  
  
FILE SOURCE: MARDUK INSTITUTE  
  
That was it! This wasn't just a class list. It was a list of potential EVA pilots. And with a list this long, she was sure the Magi could find something to test for.  
  
"Almost there." She whispered.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Are you sure?" Misato asked.  
  
"I ran the sequence six times." Maya said. "This is what it gave me."  
  
They were standing alone in the conference room, waiting for Toji and Kensuke to arrive. Maya had showed Misato what she had found last night. Neither woman was looking forward to sharing the results  
  
Misato sighed heavily. "This isn't going to be pretty."  
  
Maya nodded her agreement. This wasn't going to be pretty at all.  
  
As if on cue, the doors to the conference room opened. Toji and Kensuke came in and took their seats. Misato sat down as well, leaving Maya alone at the front of the table.  
  
"Go ahead, Doctor." Misato said.  
  
"Well." Maya began. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I found the criteria to search for the Eighth Child." She turned on the small projector, displaying the Marduk Institute's list.   
  
"This is a list of current and prospective EVA Pilots, circa 2015. I ran these names through the Magi looking for similarities. It turns out all of these pilots share a unique chromosomal mutation assumed to be a result of radiation from Second Impact. It is partially due to this mutation that they were able to pilot the EVAs."  
  
"Partially?" Kensuke asked.  
  
"Yes." Maya said. "There was another factor that had to be present for a person to be put on the 707 list...They couldn't have mothers. Every single pilot and potential pilot lost their mother early in life *and* bore this unique chromosomal defect. Our current pilots follow the pattern, having inherited this mutation from people on the list."  
  
"Wait a minute." Toji said. "I follow you up to a point. Michiru got this...mutation from Shinji and Asuka. But Tai doesn't have it, does he?"  
  
"Actually he does." Maya said. "Inherited from his mother, Hanako Matsumoto." She pointed out a name on the list. "Maiden name: Hanako Ishikawa."  
  
"Hanako!" Kensuke exclaimed. "She had the desk next to mine. I...I didn't know she had died." He finished quietly.  
  
Silence hung over the conference table.  
  
"What's the bad news?" Toji asked.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You know, I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this English stuff." Akira said as the four of them packed up their books and left the lecture hall.  
  
"It's really not that hard." Michiru said. "It's just got some messed up rules."  
  
"What? No snide remark? No suggestion that I have a mental deficiency?" Akira placed a hand on his heart, a pained look on his face. "Michiru, don't you *care* anymore?"  
  
"I care." Michiru assured him. "Just thought I'd give you a day off."   
  
"How generous of you. Isn't that nice, Claire?" Claire didn't seem to hear him. "Claire?"  
  
"Huh?" She turned. "Sorry. What was the question?"  
  
"You okay?" Tai asked. "You've been a little out of it lately."  
  
"I'm fine." Claire assured them, putting on a big smile. "I just..." She was interrupted when the cell phone in her purse began to ring. She took out the phone and checked to see who was calling. "Shit."  
  
Michiru's eyebrows rose slightly at her best friend's English swearing. The guys were oblivious; they only knew textbook English.  
  
"I have to take this." Claire said. "I'll see you guys later, okay."  
  
"All right." Michiru said.  
  
"Yeah." Akira reluctantly agreed. "Hey, call me tonight."  
  
Claire nodded and blew him a kiss before she passed out of sight around a corner.  
  
"Is there something going on with her?" Tai asked.  
  
Akira shook his head. "Nothing she's told me about. Michiru?"  
  
"Not a clue." Michiru said. She was a little worried about her friend. But she wasn't going to pry into Claire's private life. If Claire wanted to talk to her, she would listen. Otherwise, she was staying out of it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato found Toji in a small bar across the street from the main entrance to the Geofront. The bar was frequented almost exclusively by NERV personnel. At 11:00 A.M. on a Monday, it was practically deserted. Misato pulled up a stool and sat down at the bar next to Toji.  
  
"I suppose leaving work early and drinking on duty constitutes at least a demotion doesn't it?" Toji asked as she sat down.  
  
"Given the circumstances, we'll say I gave you the day off." Misato replied.  
  
"Very generous of you."  
  
"Toji...I know this is hard for you, but..."  
  
Toji made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a derisive snort. "You do, huh?"  
  
"You're right." She said. "I can't know how hard this is. But I do know that it's hard. And I understand that. But we..."  
  
"...Have no choice." Toji finished for her. "Isn't that always the way?"  
  
"Toji, I need you to be okay with this." Misato said frankly. "I'm not asking you to like it. But you've got to accept it as something that has to be done."  
  
"How can I?" He whispered. "I've been in an EVA." His gaze drifted down to the artificial limbs on his left side. "I know what they can do." He looked back up at Misato.  
  
"You know...When Hikari and I were married, we wanted kids right away. It took us three years, three years, Misato. Do you know how much that hurt? We were becoming convinced that, we would never have children. That maybe...maybe EVA had taken that from me too. When Machiko was born...it was like a miracle for us. Well you know that, you were there. And then, when Hikari...died, I promised that I would always take care of her."   
  
He lifted his head, looking straight into Misato's eyes. "Now you tell me how putting her in one of those...things and sending her off to fight qualifies as 'taking care of her'!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
The bell had just rung for lunch when the announcement came over the intercom.   
  
-Machiko Suzahara. Machiko Suzahara. Please report to the office immediately.-  
  
*So much for lunch.* Machiko thought. She wondered what they wanted her in the office for. Well, there was only one way to find out.   
  
She was more than a little surprised to find her father waiting in the office. Now Machiko was worried. She didn't remember doing anything wrong, but she must have done something *really* bad if it had gotten her dad out of work and down to the school.  
  
"Uh...hi Dad." She said. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."  
  
"You're not in trouble." Her father said very quietly.  
  
"Hi Machiko." For the first time, Machiko noticed a woman sitting next to her father. She wore a lab coat and had a NERV ID just like her father's. Machiko recognized the woman; she had met her once or twice before.  
  
"Uh...hi...Dr. Ibuki." She said.  
  
"Why don't you sit down, Machiko?" Dr. Ibuki said gently.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai and Michiru never got a chance to catch up with Claire again that day. An hour after she ran off, Misato called, asking them to report back immediately. They said goodbye to Akira and left for headquarters.  
  
"What do you think it is?" Michiru asked as Tai drove. "An Angel?"  
  
"I don't think so." Tai said. "I mean, the alarms didn't go off, and Misato didn't sound upset did she?"  
  
Michiru shook her head. "No."  
  
"Then I doubt it's an emergency." Tai said. "Probably just an announcement or something."  
  
"I guess."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hi." Misato greeted them as they entered her office.  
  
"Hi, Misato." Michiru replied cheerfully.  
  
"I just brought you two in for a bit of rumor control." Misato said, gesturing for them to sit down. "Tomorrow morning, the new EVA pilot will arrive at headquarters."  
  
"A new pilot?" They both asked in unison.  
  
Misato nodded. "The Eighth Child. She's coming here tomorrow. Her first activation test is on Wednesday."  
  
"Who is it?" Tai asked.  
  
Misato hesitated and a horrible thought struck Michiru. "Is it...Claire?" She asked.  
  
"Claire?" Misato asked, surprised. "Your friend?" Michiru only nodded silently.  
  
"She's been acting...odd lately." Tai explained.  
  
"No." Misato assured them. "It's not Claire."  
  
"Thank God." Michiru whispered.  
  
Misato drew in a sharp breath and held it for a second. She obviously didn't like what she was about to say.   
  
"It's Machiko."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko was lying in bed, the covers drawn up to her chin, when she saw her father walk past her room.  
  
"Dad." She called out softly. He stopped. "Can you come here for a second?"  
  
He smiled slightly and came into the darkened room, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "It's been a while since you asked me to come tuck you in." He said.  
  
"Dad, what's going to happen tomorrow?" She asked, trying to keep her voice from quavering.  
  
His smile fell instantly. "Well...they're going to give you a few tests, get you fitted for...some clothes; just little things like that, nothing to worry about."  
  
"And...the day after that?"  
  
"They're going to...put you in the EVA and turn it on...to see if you can control it."  
  
"I...I don't know what to feel, Dad." She said. "I don't know if I should be excited...or terrified."  
  
"Come here." Her father took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. "Don't worry." He whispered. "I'm going to be right there with you. I won't let anything happen to you."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I don't get it." Michiru said. "How can Machiko be a pilot?"  
  
"Toji was a pilot." Misato answered. "He was the Fourth Child. And Hikari could have been one. Machiko inherited the ability from them, just like you got it from your parents."  
  
"Toji...was an EVA pilot?" Misato nodded. Suddenly, Michiru was given a much clearer understanding of Toji Suzahara. His missing limbs. His scars. His hatred of Angel and Evangelion alike. No wonder he was so upset about Machiko's selection.  
  
"But...she's just a kid." Michiru said. "How can we...? You can't ask a child to do this."  
  
"I wish I didn't have to." Misato said. "I also wish I didn't have to ask you to do it. And I wish I didn't have to ask Tai. But wishing doesn't make it so. We need Machiko. She's the only one who has a chance at piloting Unit 15."  
  
"It just doesn't seem right, making someone her age fight." Michiru said.  
  
"I know." Misato said.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko glanced around nervously as her father led her through NERV Headquarters. She had never actually been in the compound before. Her nervousness gave way to excitement as they moved deeper into the underground facility. Soon she would get to see her Evangelion.  
  
The only time Machiko had ever seen an EVA was when the evening news had somehow snuck a reporter out of his or her shelter. They had captured a few minutes of one of the battles. The EVA had been a giant, purple robot. Her dad had freaked out when he saw it, the big robots were supposed to be top secret. She had never seen an EVA again. Machiko wondered what her Evangelion would look like.  
  
The huge, armored door in front of them slid open, sending a blast of cold air into their faces. Beyond the door, a long, low bridge spanned a pool of some red liquid. On the left side of the bridge, standing like a sentry, was Unit 15.  
  
The EVA was entirely silver. Like the purple EVA Machiko had seen on TV, Unit 15 had two large armor plates over its shoulders. But the head was completely different. Unit 15's helmet was entirely featureless; it had neither the toothy mouth nor the protruding horn of the other EVAs. The only features on the giant head were three eyes, arranged in an inverted pyramid on the front of the face.   
  
"Wow!" Machiko whispered in awe. She had never imagined the Evangelion would be so...cool.  
  
"I see you two have met." Machiko turned to see her dad's friend Kensuke walking toward them from the opposite side of the bridge. Surprisingly, walking behind him were two other people Machiko knew.  
  
"Michiru? ...Tai?" She asked. "What are you two doing here?"  
  
Tai smiled. "We just came to say hi." He said. "It's not every day we get a new pilot around here."  
  
"Wait. You guys are pilots?"  
  
"That's right." Michiru nodded.  
  
"Ready for transport?" Her father asked Kensuke.  
  
"All set." Kensuke replied. "We're sending it to the surface in one hour, then a train will take it to the test site."  
  
"Good. I don't want the EVA left unattended for even a second during transport."  
  
"Already taken care of." Kensuke assured him. "I understand you want to be in the control room the whole time."  
  
"That's right." Her father said. "Just in case." He turned to Tai and Michiru. "Would you guys mind giving Machiko a ride home."  
  
"No problem." Tai said.  
  
"You okay with that?" He asked her.  
  
"Sure I guess." Machiko replied.  
  
Her father then mercilessly embarrassed her by hugging her. The *last* thing she needed was hugs from daddy. And in front of Tai, no less!  
  
"I'll be home in a few hours."  
  
"Okay." Machiko said, pulling out of his arms. "See you then."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So...what's it like?" Machiko asked. She was seated in the back of Tai's car. Michiru got to ride shotgun. "Piloting EVA, I mean." She continued. "What's it like?"  
  
Michiru turned around in her seat to face Machiko. "Well...you feel a lot taller."  
  
"What?" Machiko laughed.  
  
Michiru smiled. "Well it's...it's hard to explain until you've actually done it, but it's like the EVA's body becomes yours. So you don't feel like you're sitting inside it, so much as you feel like you *are* it."  
  
"Weird." Machiko said.  
  
"Yeah." Tai agreed. "It really is."  
  
"And we just go out and...kill these Angels?"  
  
"Well it sounds a lot simpler than it actually is." Michiru said.   
  
* * * * *   
  
"Unit 15 is locked in place." Kensuke said.  
  
"Good." Toji told his friend's holographic image. "Have them run a full diagnostic on the EVA. And I mean full! I want guys in there with microscopes checking individual cells."  
  
"I might not be able to pull that one off." Kensuke said with a slight laugh. "But we'll give it a thorough checkup, don't worry."  
  
"Kensuke."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"My little girl is going to be piloting that thing. *Don't* tell me not to worry!"  
  
"Point taken."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko fell asleep before her father got home that night. He woke her up early the next morning. Machiko couldn't be sure, but it looked as if her father hadn't even bothered to go to bed.  
  
They drove to the train station in silence and passed most of the train ride the same way. Machiko was desperate to break the silence, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Butterflies, composed in equal parts of excitement and fear, were beating against the walls of her stomach.   
  
The train ride lasted about an hour. A NERV car took them to the test facility. Machiko was surprised to see two Evangelions standing on opposite sides of the underground bunker where the test was to take place. One of them she recognized as the purple one she had seen on TV, but the larger, black one was new. She wondered briefly if Michiru and Tai were already inside the giant mechs.  
  
"What are they here for?" She asked.  
  
"Guard duty." Her father said grimly. He forced a smile. "Just a precaution."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Corporal, run a full diagnostic on Unit 15." Toji said as he stalked into the control room.  
  
"Sir, I just ran..." Corporal Tanaka began.  
  
"WELL RUN IT AGAIN!"   
  
The young woman shrank slightly from his sharp rebuke and quickly began typing commands into her console, blinking rapidly.  
  
"You okay?" Lieutenant Kusanagi asked quietly.  
  
"I'm fine." Kaori said, rubbing her eyes self-consciously. "Just an eyelash."  
  
"Major." Misato called softly. "Can I borrow you for a minute?"  
  
Out in the hall, Misato turned to face him. "Toji." She said. "I know this isn't exactly your best day ever. But you are making *everyone* insane."  
  
"Look I..."  
  
"Don't talk." She cut him off. "Just listen. No one here wants anything bad to happen to Machiko. But they can't do their jobs if they constantly have to walk on eggshells around you. And if they can't do their jobs, then they can't be any help to Machiko. Okay?"  
  
Toji sighed. Finally he nodded.  
  
"You look like hell." Misato said. "How much have you slept?"  
  
"Slept?"  
  
"Yeah, sleep. You know, that thing where you lie down and lose consciousness for a while."  
  
"There'll be time for that later."  
  
"Okay. There are a couple cots in one of the spare rooms. There's four hours until we need you in the control room. I expect you to spend those four hours asleep on one of those cots."  
  
"Misato..."  
  
"That's an order, Major."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So what do you think?" Tai asked.  
  
"What do I think about what?" Michiru asked.  
  
"You think everything's going to go okay?"  
  
"I'm not letting myself think anything else." She replied.  
  
"Good plan. So have you seen Machiko?"  
  
"I showed her how the plug suit works." Michiru said. "She's changing now. I haven't had a chance to talk to her though."  
  
"Poor kid." He said. "She must be so scared."  
  
Michiru nodded. "She's hiding it pretty well, but yeah, she's scared. Can you really blame her?"  
  
"No." Tai said. "No, I can't."  
  
Michiru knew what was on Tai's mind, because she was having the same thought. For her and Tai, the first time piloting an EVA had been terrifying. But it had been sudden terror. They hadn't had to live in fear, anticipating the event, like Machiko did.  
  
"At least she won't have to fight today." Michiru said.  
  
"Check me out!" Michiru and Tai turned to see Machiko exiting the locker room. She wore a pale gray plug suit with darker gray highlights along the arms and legs. The young girl was puffed up with pride, displaying the '15' in the center of her chest like a badge of honor. She spun around quickly, making sure they saw all sides of the suit. "Don't I look cute?"  
  
Michiru couldn't help smiling.  
  
"Well?" Machiko demanded.  
  
"Adorable." Tai said.  
  
Machiko looked away, trying to hide the traces of red that were spreading across her cheeks. "Thanks." She said. "I...have to go."  
  
"Yeah." Michiru said. "So do we." She reached over and placed a hand on Machiko's shoulder. "Don't worry. You're going to do fine."  
  
Machiko smiled, clearly still afraid, but not wanting to let Michiru and Tai see it. "Thanks." She whispered.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Toji was asleep on an uncomfortable cot. But in his mind, he was somewhere else entirely.  
  
He was back in 2015. Fourteen years old again and back in the entry plug. This was why he had been avoiding sleep lately. He hadn't had this dream in almost twenty years, until Machiko was chosen as a pilot. Now, whenever he slept, Toji found himself back in that steel tube. Years ago, he had tried to alter his actions in the dream. But it was no use; no matter what he did, the Angel always took control of the Evangelion. He couldn't stop it from hurting his friends. He couldn't fight back when Unit 01 attacked him. The dream always ended the same, just as it had in reality, with the entry plug collapsing around him, crushed in a giant fist.  
  
"Major?"  
  
Toji sat up. Shaking off sleep like it was an unclean thing. Lieutenant Kusanagi stood over his cot.   
  
"I'm awake, Lieutenant." Toji groaned. "What is it?"  
  
"Well...we're ready to start, sir." The young officer said.  
  
"Fine." Toji acknowledged.  
  
"Sir, are you all right?" Kusanagi asked.  
  
"I haven't been having a great week, Lieutenant."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Everything was in place. They were ready to start.  
  
Toji sighed heavily. He turned to Maya. "Okay." He said. "Let's get started."  
  
"Charge LCL." Maya ordered.  
  
"LCL charged." Lieutenant Tanaka replied.  
  
"Commence neural connection."  
  
On the main screen, a series of gray bars began popping up, representing connected nerves.   
  
"Neural connections stable." Minako reported.  
  
"Well, so far, so good." Maya said. "Begin activation."  
  
On the screen, the gray bars were replaced by another set of bars. These bars started off bright red on the bottom-left of the screen and wove their way up and down the board, fading into green as they approached the upper-left corner.  
  
Starting in the first red bar, the chart began to light up, the bars moving slowly toward a line drawn near the middle. The line was situated at the border between the red and green bars. As the lighted bars approached the barrier, Corporal Tanaka began calling off numbers.  
  
"Approaching absolute borderline. Borderline minus 1.9...minus 1.0."  
  
"It looks good so far." Misato said.  
  
"Yeah." Toji agreed, his eyes fixed on the screen. "So far."  
  
"Minus 0.8...0.6..." The bars began to light up more slowly. The line seemed to be struggling toward the borderline.  
  
"Come on." Toji whispered.  
  
"Absolute borderline minus 0.3..." Kaori called. "0.2......0.1..." The first green bar above the border lit up. Slowly, the green bars began to light. "Borderline cleared. Borderline plus 0.5 and rising."  
  
A sigh of relief went through the control room. But Maya frowned slightly.  
  
"Something's wrong." She said. "It should be climbing faster."  
  
"What?"   
  
Before Maya could answer, the bars on the screen began to waver. The entire crew was rooted in place, watching as the bars dipped, rose, and dipped again, before plunging backwards into the red.  
  
"Backflow!" Minako yelled. "The neural connections are breaking off!"  
  
"What's going on?" Toji demanded.  
  
"We're losing control!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
In the test chamber, Unit 15 stirred. Its three eyes flared to life, casting an eerie green glow over the darkened bunker. The EVA strained against its restraints. The sound of twisting metal filled the chamber as the restraining locks began to tear.  
  
The restraints on Unit 15's left arm gave way. The EVA lifted its free arm and grabbed its head, as if fighting a migraine. It balled up the giant hand into a fist and slammed it into the nearest wall, sending huge cracks across the smooth concrete.   
  
The Evangelion shook in its restraints, pounding on the wall of the test chamber with its one free fist. It struggled with all of its considerable strength, trying to break free.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"Cut the power!" Toji yelled. "Eject the entry plug!"  
  
"No good!" Lieutenant Kusanagi replied. "The signals aren't being received."  
  
"Daddy?" Machiko's face appeared on the video link. Her voice was filled with fear. "What's happening?"  
  
"Oh, God...GET HER OUT OF THERE!" Toji yelled.  
  
"Machiko." Maya said. "There's a switch underneath the main control handle. It's an emergency eject system. You see it?"  
  
"Uh huh." Machiko nodded.  
  
"Pull the lever."  
  
Machiko pulled and waited. "Nothing happened!" She cried.  
  
"Pulses are still flowing backwards!" Hisashi said.   
  
"We can't eject." Misato said. "We have to bring it back under control."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Bring it back?" Minako asked. "Can that be done?"  
  
Maya looked into Misato's eyes. She looked at Toji, trying so valiantly to maintain self-control. And she looked at Machiko, no longer able to put on a facade of bravery, utterly terrified. She knew her answer.  
  
"We have to try." She grabbed two laptop computers and headed for the hallway. "I need Kusanagi and both Tanakas with me. We're going to the test chamber."  
  
The elevator ride down to the chamber was interminable. As they neared the bottom, Maya became aware of a slow, rhythmic pounding. She realized what it was a moment later. The sound came from Unit 15 slamming it's fist into the walls of the test chamber. She turned to her three companions.  
  
"Okay." She said. "We have one chance at this and one chance only. It's dangerous, it's never been attempted before, and it probably won't work. If any of you don't feel up to it, just stay on the elevator."  
  
The elevator hit the bottom floor. Maya stepped out and turned. All three technicians had followed her off the lift. She smiled.  
  
"Here's how it's going to work. Kaori." She handed the young woman one of the laptops. "Through that door you will find a control panel. Hook this into the panel and wait for my instructions. Minako. Go with Kaori, there's a stairway that leads up to a catwalk near the EVA's knees. Activate one of the emergency neural stimulators and hook it into the nerve plexus at the back of the left knee. Hisashi, you're with me."  
  
She led Kusanagi to a smaller lift. "This goes up to the Entry Plug." She said.  
  
"Is it safe up there?"  
  
"Let's see, the building is shaking itself apart, the supports for the catwalk we'll be on are damaged, and, oh yeah, we'll be uncomfortably close to the business end of a berserk EVA. That sound safe to you?"  
  
"Right, dumb question." He said.  
  
Maya smiled. "Look on the bright side." She said. "At least your job isn't boring."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Inside the test chamber, the pounding was so loud that the floor seemed to vibrate with each strike. The Evangelion's feet covered most of the floor of the test chamber. This far down, Unit 15 was still immobilized, though from the look of things, it would not remain that way for much longer. Kaori ran to the control panel as her sister sprinted for the metal staircase that spiraled up toward the EVA's knees.  
  
"Be careful Mina!" Kaori called after her.  
  
"You, too." Minako replied.  
  
Kaori pulled open the access panel and plugged in her laptop. The screen lit up with a diagram of the EVA's control circuits. The entire diagram was flashing wildly, showing all the neural connections between Machiko and Unit 15 as 'disconnected'.  
  
With everything in place, Kaori craned her neck, looking up. Far above her, hundreds of feet up, Unit 15 was still slamming its fist into the wall next to it. Closer to her, Minako was making her way toward the EVA's knee joint.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What's going on, Misato?" Michiru asked.   
  
"Unit 15 is...out of control." Misato said.  
  
"Oh, no." Tai whispered.  
  
"Machiko?"  
  
"She's fine for now." Misato said. Michiru let out the breath she had unconsciously been holding. "We're trying to regain control. But if we don't..."  
  
"Don't say it, Misato." Michiru said. "There's no way."  
  
"I had a feeling you'd say that." Misato said. "But Michiru...it may be the only way to save Machiko."  
  
"You don't mean...?" Tai asked.  
  
"I won't do it." Michiru said firmly.  
  
"Yes you will, damn it!" Michiru's eyes widened. She had never seen Misato like this. The older woman seemed to calm down a little. "Michiru. Tai." She said quietly. "If Unit 15 manages to break free, then the only way to save Machiko's life...may be to destroy the EVA."  
  
"She'll feel it, Misato!" Michiru said. "Anything we do to the EVA...It'll feel like it's happening to her."  
  
"I know." Misato said. "But at least she'll be alive."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Minako took the metal stairs two at a time. She was out of breath by the time she reached Unit 15's left knee. Casting a glance around, Minako found the panel behind which the emergency neural stimulators for the lower body were kept. Minako pried the panel open and found the right cable. With the free end of the cable, she ran around to the back of the EVA's knee, where a thick sheet of rubber covered the joint in its armor. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small multi-tool, unfolding the knife blade.  
  
Minako hastily unbuckled her belt and unzipped her khaki uniform dress. She slipped out of the dress, leaving it on the floor as far from the EVA as she could. Most of her uniform was inexpensive, but a replacement for the Khaki dress would cost more than she was willing to pay. Clad only in a white tank top and tights, Minako stepped up to the EVA and began a bit of impromptu surgery. She cut a large hole in the rubber joint cover, revealing disturbingly human skin underneath.   
  
"Sorry about this, kid." She said. She shoved the blade of her knife into the pale skin, dragging it across to make a long, deep incision. Blood spilled from the cut. Minako felt her stomach turn at the sight, but she pushed on. This particular job was only going to get nastier.   
  
Taking a deep breath, Minako shoved her hand into the open wound. Her arm sank into the EVA all the way to her elbow. The inside of the Evangelion was incredibly hot, as was the blood that poured out around her arm. She fought another wave of nausea and groped blindly around the interior of the knee until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the bundle of fiber-optic cables and pulled it out, wiping as much blood off of the wires as she could. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the neural stimulator. The two wires fit together perfectly. Minako lay back on the catwalk, away from the flow of blood. After a moment, she got up and headed back to the bottom of the test chamber to help Kaori.  
  
The fiber-optic cables were hooked into the EVA's central nervous system. By plugging the stimulator into the nerve plexus, she made it possible to stimulate the EVA's nerves directly. She didn't know what Dr. Ibuki was planning, but she hoped it would work. And she hoped Hisashi and Dr. Ibuki would be safe, so near the EVA's free arm.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"My God!" Kaori said as her sister descended the stairs, covered in blood. "What happened to you?"  
  
"I had to operate." Minako replied.  
  
"I've got the computer set up." Kaori said. "What now?"  
  
"Now we wait."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The elevator ride to the top of the test chamber took less than a minute. The doors opened and Hisashi saw the EVA. Unit 15 was still rocking back and forth, straining against its restraints, still beating on the wall. The armor and skin over the EVA's knuckles had been sheared away, exposing dull white bone underneath. Blood flowed freely from the wound, dripping down the wall.  
  
"We've got to work fast." Dr. Ibuki said, yelling to be heard over the pounding. "I need you to remove the armor over the entry plug manually."  
  
"Do you think it'll try to attack us?" Hisashi asked.  
  
"I'm counting on the remaining restraints to prevent it from reaching back this far." Dr. Ibuki replied. "But keep an eye on it. Just in case." She added.  
  
A small hatch on the EVA's back hid a large, flat hand crank. He grabbed the handle, made sure there were no giant hands reaching for him, and put all his strength into turning it. After a minute or so of cranking, the hatch on top of the EVA's back swung open. The plug stayed lodged inside the Evangelion, but it's top was exposed.  
  
"Got it!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Maya nodded and pulled up a videoconference window on her laptop.   
  
"Kaori, can you hear me."  
  
"Loud and clear." Kaori replied.   
  
"Did Minako get that stimulator plugged in?"  
  
"I got it." Minako said from somewhere off screen.  
  
"Okay." Maya said. "I'm going to connect another stimulator to the Entry Plug. Then the two of us need to coordinate to stabilize the nerve pulses. Understand?"   
  
"Got it."  
  
"Good." She changed to a video link to the entry plug. "Machiko?"  
  
"I'm here." The girl said in a quiet, scared voice.  
  
"I'm right above you, okay."  
  
"Open this thing up then!" Machiko screamed. "I want out!"  
  
"Machiko, calm down." Maya said. "We're going to have you out of there in no time. But I need you to help me, can you do that?"  
  
Machiko nodded. "Yeah." She said. "Yeah I think so."  
  
Maya smiled. "All you have to do is concentrate when I tell you to. Imagine yourself completely still and don't think about anything else, understand?"  
  
"Okay." Machiko nodded. "I'll try."  
  
"All right Kaori." Maya said. "I'm attaching the neural stimulator to the Entry Plug now. Get ready."  
  
* * * * *   
  
Kaori knew the second the neural stimulator was connected. The labels on her screen began fluctuating wildly between 'Connected', 'Interrupted', and 'Disconnected'.  
  
"Kaori." Dr. Ibuki said. "We're going to reroute the nerve pulses for the main areas, starting in the head and working our way down."  
  
"Understood."  
  
One by one, Dr. Ibuki used the neural stimulators to run nerve pulses through the various parts of the EVA by way of the entry plug. Each time a new area lit up, Kaori typed furiously at her keyboard, aligning the electrical impulses until they stayed in a fixed pattern. At the same time, Dr. Ibuki worked to keep connected areas from slipping out of alignment.   
  
"Um...Kaori?" Her sister said.  
  
"Little busy!"  
  
"Almost done?" Minako asked.   
  
"You want this done quick or you want it done right?" Kaori replied. Her answer didn't come from Minako. It was the screeching sound of metal being ripped apart. The restraints were giving way. The EVA was almost free.  
  
"I'll take quick." Minako said.  
  
Kaori nodded and launched into another flurry of typing. "Quick it is."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Hisashi grabbed the nearest handrail to avoid falling. The catwalk shook and twisted underneath his feet. Looking down, he saw that the EVA was nearly free.  
  
"Whatever you're doing, do it fast!" He yelled.  
  
"Almost there!" Dr. Ibuki called back. Looking up to where the doctor sat perched on top of the entry plug, Hisashi saw that almost all of the nerve connections had been stabilized. The catwalk shuddered again. Even if the EVA couldn't reach them, it was becoming dangerous to stay up here.  
  
"Machiko!" Dr. Ibuki called. "Concentrate! Focus on staying in control!"  
  
Maya's hands flew across the keyboard. The labels on the screen flashed with blinding speed. A few seconds later, the laptop beeped, all the nerve centers were marked 'Connected'. Unit 15 was back under control. There was no time to celebrate. With a final, tortured groan, the catwalk collapsed.   
  
Hisashi tried to grab on to the Evangelion as he fell. Maya reached out, trying to grab him. Their fingers touched but found no purchase. Maya screamed, but Hisashi made no sound. Even as his body plunged to the bottom of the chamber he was silent. There was no fear in his eyes; only a look of surprise, as if he didn't really believe what was happening. As if he didn't really accept that he was going to die.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"We got Machiko out of the entry plug." Kensuke said. "She's fine, just shaken up. The EVA suffered minor damage. It'll heal on its own."  
  
"Fine." Misato said absently. "And...Kusanagi?"  
  
Kensuke was silent. "He wasn't in any pain." He finally said. "Death was...instantaneous."   
  
* * * * *  
  
Minako sat in silence. She still wore only her bloodstained tights and undershirt. Her uniform dress lay forgotten in the test chamber. The sun was setting and the night was turning cold. She barely noticed when someone pressed a cup of something hot into her hands. Her eyes saw the sun sinking behind the mountains, but in her mind, she just kept seeing Hisashi fall, over and over again.  
  
She looked up when someone draped a thin blanket around her shoulders.   
  
"Commander?" She asked.  
  
Commander Katsuragi sat down next to her. Like everyone else who had spoken to Minako in the past few hours, her eyes were filled with sympathy and pity.  
  
"You looked cold."  
  
Minako nodded and pulled the blanket around her.  
  
"I should...call his mother." She said.   
  
"Lieutenant..."  
  
"We were supposed to have dinner with her tonight. She'll need to know..."  
  
"Minako." The older woman cut her off. "I've already called her."  
  
"I just...I can't believe he's gone."  
  
"The two of you were dating, weren't you?" Minako nodded silently. "Was it...serious?"  
  
"Serious?" Minako let out a short, choked sob. "We were engaged. I mean, not officially. We were waiting until one of us got promoted. But...as soon as we were...secure enough to...start a family..." She broke down, weeping. "Oh God! He's gone! He's really gone!"  
  
Kaori showed up a few minutes later to take Minako home. Reluctantly Minako let go of her commander and allowed her little sister to lead her to the car. Exhausted, both from the day's events and from her grief, she fell asleep before they even made it home.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Late that night, Michiru lay awake next to Tai. Lately, She had been spending more nights in Tai's bed than in her own. Michiru was not usually one to suffer from insomnia, but tonight sleep eluded her.  
  
"Hey? You all right?" Tai asked.   
  
Michiru shook her head "He's dead." She whispered. "We barely knew him but...He was such a nice guy. And now...he's just gone."  
  
"I know." Tai said. "It's not right."  
  
"It's because of the EVA." Michiru said bitterly. "There's nothing good about them! All they do is cause death." She buried her face in Tai's neck, sobbing. "I want this to be over, Tai! I don't want to be a part of this any more!"  
  
Tai put his arms around Michiru, hugging her tightly. "I know." He said. "And it will be. We're going to make it through this, together."  
  
"And Machiko?" Michiru asked. "What about her?"  
  
"Her too." Tai smiled. "We'll keep her safe."  
  
"You're right." Michiru said, laying her head on Tai's shoulder. Her sadness wasn't gone, but she knew it would heal in time. There was something about Tai. Whenever she was with him, she just knew that everything would be all right. Maybe that was just part of being in love with someone. Whatever the reason, it was a feeling she cherished, a refuge from the fear and confusion that had filled her life recently.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko lay in bed crying. She tried to keep her sobs quiet, but she knew she was failing. Sure enough, she heard her father in the doorway a few minutes later.   
  
"Machiko?"  
  
"Go away." She begged him. "I want to be alone." Actually she didn't want to be alone, and she was grateful when her father called her bluff, coming into her room and sitting on the edge of her bed.  
  
"It's okay to cry, you know." He said. "This has been...a hard day."  
  
"It's my fault." She whispered. "That man is dead because of me."  
  
"No." Her dad said. "That's not true, Machiko."  
  
"It is." She insisted. "If I hadn't lost control, they wouldn't have been in there in the first place. He would still be alive."  
  
Her father pulled her into a sitting position and put his arms around her. There was something about the way her father hugged her, the warm skin of his right arm contrasting with the cool metal of his left. It might have disturbed others, but Machiko always associated the sensation with the unique feeling of love and security that only a father could provide.  
  
"Sweetie. You can't blame yourself. It was an accident. It's nobody's fault." He said.  
  
Machiko returned the hug, weeping on her father's shoulder. "I'm scared Daddy!" She cried. "I don't want to pilot the EVA anymore! I'm scared of what might happen!"  
  
"So am I." He said. "So am I."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Somewhere far from Minako's grief, from Michiru and Tai's love, from Machiko's worries about her future, far away, hidden deep in the earth, something stirred. This creature was unlike those that had come before it. It was aware of its surroundings. It understood the true reason for its existence. Slowly, purposefully, a new messenger awoke from its slumber.   
  
The Twenty-third Angel was born.  
  
* * * * *  
  
To Be Continued....  
  
  
  
  
* * * * * 


	9. The Children's Crusade!

* * * * *  
Legal Stuff: I really don't own EVA, I swear to God!  
* * * * *  
Dedication: I can't think of anyone right now, so I'll just dedicate this to everyone.  
* * * * *  
Author's Note: Well it's been exactly one year since I started posting Evangelion: OMEGA on Fanfiction.net. I hope you're all enjoying my little story.  
* * * * *  
  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:9- The Children's Crusade  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."  
  
The aging Priest closed his small Bible, laying the book down on the podium in front of him.  
  
"Hisashi Kusanagi was a beloved son and brother, a fine officer, and a devoted friend. Those who knew him; his family and friends, his co-workers, his Fiancée, and everyone whose lives he was a part of will miss him. But in our sorrow, we also find joy in the memory of Hisashi's bravery. Of his selfless devotion to saving lives, even at the cost of his own. And we take comfort in the knowledge that Hisashi is in a better place. A place without fear or pain, where none suffer. We take comfort, knowing that our friend is at peace. Let us pray."  
  
Michiru bowed her head as the Priest began the prayer, trying believe in what she was saying as she followed his words. The Myojin Home for Orphans, where she had grown up, had been staffed mostly by Catholic nuns. Upon exiting the Orphanage, Michiru had been a reasonably faithful Catholic. But her experiences directly after leaving were steadily stripping her faith from her. It was hard to retain belief in a benevolent deity when Angels were trying to destroy the world and your job was to kill them. She certainly didn't see the use in praying to God for the soul of a friend who had died as a direct result of their war *against* His messengers; if, in fact, that was what the Angels were.  
  
She only joined her fellow mourners in prayer out of respect for Lieutenant Kusanagi, who, it turned out, had been quite a believer. She hadn't really known the man, though she had seen him practically every day since she came to Tokyo 3. Michiru had always taken his presence for granted. And now, though they had never been more than casual acquaintances, she couldn't picture life without him. She couldn't even imagine how Lieutenant Tanaka must feel.  
  
Minako sat in the front row, right next to Kusanagi's mother and brothers. The two Lieutenants may never have had a chance to be married, or even to officially announce their engagement, but Minako was clearly already considered a member of the family. She and Hisashi's mother leaned on each other, the younger woman doing her best to comfort the elder, even though she looked in need of just as much comforting, if not more.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So do we have any idea what caused the EVA to lose control?" Misato asked, looking up into Unit 15's three eyes.  
  
"We think the EVA had trouble pulling in the correct neural signals from Machiko." Maya said.  
  
"How did that happen?"  
  
"We aren't entirely sure." Maya replied. "There is one possibility though?"  
  
"What is it?" Toji asked.  
  
"Well Unit 15 doesn't have a human soul like Unit 01 does." Maya explained. "Without the experience of a human life as a reference, the EVA may have been confused about which of the pilot's nerves controlled which functions."  
  
The look on Toji's face made it clear that he didn't get it.  
  
"Think of it like this." Maya continued. "A newborn has no idea how to make its body work. In the same way, Unit 15 didn't know because it had never moved before. It was getting messages from Machiko but it had no idea what to do with them. All we had to do was kind of...teach it how." Her face darkened. "We just weren't fast enough."  
  
Misato sighed. "It wasn't your fault, Maya."  
  
"I took him up there."  
  
"No." Misato said. "He chose to go up there. He knew the risks. What happened wasn't your fault any more than it was Machiko's. It just happened."  
  
"I know." Maya said. "You're right." She sighed quietly. "Anyway, the EVA went berserk because it had no soul to tell it how to interpret Machiko's nerve impulses. Now that it can do that on its own, we shouldn't have any more problems with it."  
  
"Fine." Misato said. But a single disturbing thought lingered in the back of her mind.  
  
*Unit 14 doesn't have a soul either.*  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey look, she's back."  
  
"I thought she transferred to another school."  
  
"No, I heard she was suspended."  
  
"Oh, come on! What would Miss Teacher's Pet get suspended for?"  
  
"Well then you tell me where she's been all week."  
  
Machiko did her best to ignore the rumors that her classmates thought she couldn't hear them whispering to each other. Instead, she concentrated on giving the official notice from NERV excusing her absence to her teacher, then making it to her desk without tripping or doing anything else that would draw even more attention to her.   
  
"Hey, Machiko." Her friend Yohko leaned over and whispered. "Where have you been?"   
  
"My aunt moved to a new apartment." Machiko recited her carefully rehearsed lie. "We had to go help her out."  
  
"I thought your aunt lived in England." Yohko said.  
  
"Different aunt." Machiko replied quickly.  
  
"Oh that's right. I forgot; you have, like, a dozen aunts."  
  
"Three." Machiko corrected her friend.  
  
"How much help does a grown woman need to move?" Yohko wondered aloud.  
  
"Well she's in a wheelchair, so..." At least that part of the story was true. Her Aunt Keiko was unable to use her legs, and had been since early childhood; the result of an accident her father adamantly refused to discuss.  
  
"Oh." Yohko said quietly. "Sorry. ...I didn't know."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Machiko said. The sooner Yohko got off this topic, the easier it would be for Machiko to avoid accidentally telling the truth.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Central Dogma had been uncharacteristically quiet all week. An almost palpable sense of mourning hung over the huge chamber. Kaori found it hard to concentrate without the sound of chatter and normal work in the background, even more difficult when she reflected on why the giant room was so quiet.  
  
It had only been a week. A week since the funeral; two weeks since he died. Kaori looked sadly to her left. Of the three technician's seats on the main level, two were now empty. One would eventually be filled again. The other never would, even if NERV put someone else in it.  
  
Kaori had only known Hisashi for a few months. But she had grown to love him as a brother; fitting, since he would eventually have become her brother-in-law. She missed him. And it broke her heart to see how his death was killing her big sister. Minako had been in the 'normal' grieving process up until the funeral. But seeing the casket lowered into the earth had done something to her. She wouldn't speak. She barely ate. And she was spending more and more time sitting in the living room of their apartment, staring out the window at absolutely nothing.  
  
Kaori had tried to talk to her sister, but her efforts were in vain. It was all she could do to force Minako to eat enough to stay alive and help her to her bed when she inevitably fell asleep in the living room.   
  
"Corporal?" Kaori turned to see Commander Katsuragi standing behind her.  
  
"Commander." She said.  
  
The Commander gave her a sympathetic smile. "Come on." She led Kaori to the vending machines. Grateful to get out of the suffocating silence of Central Dogma, Kaori dropped wearily onto one of the short benches near the machines.  
  
"How are you holding up?"  
  
Kaori sighed. "I'll be fine." She said. "I'm just worried about Mina. It's like she's just...giving up. Like she doesn't want to live without him." She looked up and Commander Katsuragi. "I don't know what to do." She said. "I've tried everything I can think of to reach her. I know I...shouldn't ask. But...Mina really looks up to you. Do you think you could...?"  
  
"Of course." Misato glanced at her watch. "Let's go right now."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey Doc."  
  
Maya looked up from her desk. "Hello Tai. Painkillers?"  
  
Tai nodded grimly and held up an empty prescription bottle. "Out again." He said. "And I think I'm starting to build up a resistance. Either that or the pain's just getting worse."  
  
"Hmm." Maya thought for a moment. "I'm kind of reluctant to increase your dosage." She said. "I don't want you OD-ing."  
  
"Yeah, that's not high on my list either." Tai said.  
  
Maya sighed. "Come on in. I'll see what I can do."  
  
* * * * *  
  
It had taken the Angel two weeks to reach land. The Sea was not where it belonged, and moving along the floor of the ocean was difficult. The closer the Angel got to shore, the easier it became to move. Soon it would reach its destination. Soon it would unite with its creator.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So carry the three and then..."  
  
Michiru was interrupted by a ringing phone.  
  
"Hold on." Claire reached over and grabbed the phone next to her bed. "Hello...Look I'm really busy, can I...No...No, I...Look! I'll call you back, alright!" She slammed the receiver back into its cradle.   
  
"Is everything okay, Claire?" Michiru asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Claire asked.  
  
"Well you keep getting these phone calls and running off...or just hanging up..."  
  
Claire sighed. "It's just my parents." She said. "They want me to go back."  
  
"Back?" Michiru asked. "Like, back to America?"  
  
Claire nodded. "Apparently it isn't safe here anymore."  
  
"Well they do kind of have a point."  
  
"No they don't." Claire said. "It's perfectly safe here as long as you and Tai are around."  
  
"Me and Tai?" Michiru did her best to feign ignorance.  
  
"Remember, Michiru." Claire said. "You can't lie to me. Every time the alarms go off you pull a Clark Kent, and you don't show up again until the drill is over, or the latest big nasty monster is gone. And now Tai's doing it too. And he started right around the time *two* robots started fighting instead of one."  
  
"Well...I...That's supposed to be..."  
  
"A secret." Claire finished. "Don't worry. I'm not telling anyone. My point was, I know the two of you will take care of everything. So I feel safe here."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Of course. Besides, I like it here. I like you and Tai. I *really* like Akira." She smiled. "I'm not going to leave my best friend *and* my boyfriend just because Mom and Dad can't make up their minds about anything. So you and Tai just keep on beating up the bad guys so I can stay here."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Mina! I'm home!" Kaori called as they entered the small apartment. "I brought someone to see you."  
  
Misato's heart fell at the scene before her. Minako didn't even look up to see them. She just kept staring blankly out the window.  
  
"Minako?" Misato said tentatively. "May I come in?"  
  
"Go ahead." Kaori whispered. "If she wants to talk...I guess she will."  
  
Misato nodded and crossed the small room to sit next to Minako.  
  
"Hi." She said quietly. "Everyone at work's been worried about you. They all wanted me to give you their best."  
  
"He loved this view." Minako suddenly spoke up. "I never really thought it was that great. But Hisashi loved it. Especially watching the buildings grow."  
  
"It is...impressive." Misato said, looking out over Tokyo 3.  
  
Minako shrugged. "It's alright." She said. "The view itself wasn't really the important thing. He just loved the city. Every part of it. That was why he stayed in NERV so long. He had offers from every software company in Japan to write code for them. But he wouldn't leave his city in danger. That's the kind of person he was."  
  
"He was a great guy." It was all Misato could think to say.  
  
"And I just keep wondering..." Minako was on the verge of tears. "Who's going to...take care of his city now?" She broke down, laying her head in Misato's lap and openly weeping for the first time since the funeral. She was still crying a few minutes later when the sirens went off. Misato's cell phone rang a moment later. She unfolded it and put it to her ear.  
  
"Tell me those alarms I'm hearing are false ones." She said.  
  
"I *could* tell you that, but I'd be lying." Toji replied.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Angel." Toji said. "Came ashore two minutes ago. At current speed it will be here in twenty minutes."  
  
Misato sighed. "Okay. Begin evacuation, drop the central block, and prep the EVAs. I'll be there as soon as I can."  
  
"Got it."  
  
Misato gently pulled Minako back into a sitting position and stood up. "I'll be right back." She promised. Minako grabbed her hand as she turned.  
  
"Let me come, too." She said.  
  
"But..."  
  
"Please." Minako begged. "Let me help."  
  
Misato found she couldn't refuse the younger woman's request. "Okay." She said. "Let's hurry."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The butterflies were back in Machiko's stomach. She had been sitting in class when the sirens went off. All the other students had filed to the shelter, but her Section Two 'bodyguards' had pulled her out of the line and taken her straight to headquarters.  
  
She ran to the locker room, changed into her plug suit, and headed for the briefing room. She was surprised to find Michiru and Tai preparing to leave when she got there. Evidently the briefing was already over.   
  
"Wait." She said. "What are we doing?"  
  
"Michiru and Tai are going to fight the Angel." Her father said.  
  
"What about me?"  
  
"You'll be on standby. We're putting you in the EVA, but we'll only launch as a last resort."  
  
"I don't get to fight?"  
  
Her dad was very quick to shake his head. "Maybe next time."  
  
"But I'm ready!" Machiko insisted. "I mean...I'm as ready as I can be."  
  
"This isn't a debate, Machiko." Her father said firmly. "You're sitting this one out."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Launch EVA!"  
  
Machiko watched bitterly as Unit 01 shot up through the launch tube and Unit 14 began sliding into launch position.  
  
"You're sitting this one out Machiko." She quietly mocked her father's voice. "You're not ready to fight yet Machiko. Just hang out here and look helpless Machiko."  
  
"Uh...Machiko?" Captain Aida came on the video link.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Everyone out here can hear everything you say in there."  
  
"Oh..." Machiko felt her face explode into bright red. "Sorry."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kensuke smiled and shut off the video link. He hadn't really intended to embarrass Machiko, but it *was* good to see a few smiles around the control deck for a change.  
  
The smiles fell instantly when the doors to the main deck slid open. Three women stepped through the doors: Misato, Kaori and...  
  
"Minako?"  
  
Lieutenant Tanaka followed Misato closely. She wore civilian clothes and a strangely blank, emotionless expression. Without a word, Minako crossed the room and resumed her post next to her younger sister, throwing only the quickest of glances at the empty seat on the other side of her.  
  
"Commander?" Kensuke asked, indicating the Lieutenant.  
  
Misato shook her head silently. *We can take care of her later* was the obvious implication.  
  
Kensuke cleared his throat nervously and began again. "The Angel is a little under three minutes away from the second defensive perimeter." He said.  
  
"The second?" Misato asked.  
  
"Yes. It ripped through the first perimeter like it wasn't even there. We've completely lost contact with all the control stations that were in its path."  
  
"So no visual contact then?"  
  
"No information on the Angel whatsoever." He replied grimly.  
  
"As usual, we have to go in blind." Misato muttered. "The EVAs?"  
  
"Unit 01 is in position to intercept." Kensuke reported. "Unit 14 is preparing to launch. Unit 15 is on standby."  
  
"Unlock Unit 14 from its launch platform. If we can get Tai in the air, maybe he can give us a look at this thing *before* it knocks on our front door."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai gritted his teeth against the inevitable onslaught of g-forces as his EVA shot up through the launch tube. It was the same every time, but somehow it never got easier. The invisible force pressing down on him was as uncomfortable today as it had been the first time he piloted Unit 14. Being prepared helped a little, but not much.  
  
At the top of the tube Unit 14 shot out into sunlight, blinding Tai for a moment. Without the locking bolts, the momentum of his launch continued to carry him upward. When he had sailed as high above Tokyo three as the launch would take him, Tai spread his wings and took flight, ascending another hundred feet or so in a few seconds. The city below him looked like an intricate model, with a purple and green doll standing in its center.  
  
"How's it going down there?" He asked.  
  
Michiru's face appeared before him, smiling with only a hint of nervousness. "Feeling good." She said. "Although I should be studying right now. These things have no respect for my schedule."  
  
Tai laughed. "Well let's take care of it quickly then. I'm going to fly ahead; do a little recon."  
  
"Roger."  
  
"Who's this Roger guy?" Tai asked playfully.  
  
"Please go away now."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"See anything yet?" Toji asked.  
  
"Negative Major." Tai said. "Switching to Infra-Red."  
  
Tai was silent for a long moment. Then:  
  
"Got it! It's underneath the trees. Moving fast. It should be coming out into the fields any second now."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Angel burst out of the forest and ran headlong toward Tokyo 3. It looked like a giant cat in terms of shape, but not in much else. This 'cat' was at least as tall at the shoulder as an EVA and it had no hair. Worse, it had no head, only a single eye where its neck should have been; not a cat's eye, but a giant human eye. Smaller eyes covered every part of the Angel's body, a twisted mockery of leopard spots.   
  
The Angel stopped in its tracks when Unit 14 passed above it. It turned and looked up, taking a moment to assess any threat the EVA might pose. Then, without warning, an energy beam erupted from its main eye. Tai banked hard to avoid the beam, but it caught the tip of his right wing. An icy numbness instantly began to creep up the wing, spreading out from the affected tip. Tai couldn't see what was happening to his wings, but somehow he knew without having to see.  
  
"Sever the wings!" He yelled in a panicked voice. "Hurry!"  
  
"But you're still in the air..." Kaori began.  
  
"DO IT!" Tai screamed. Fiery pain erupted through his entire back as explosive charges blew Unit 14's wings off in a burst of smoke and blood. The EVA dropped out of the sky and landed hard, shaking the ground and sending up a cloud of dust the size of a building. An instant later, a pair of stone wings landed next to the EVA, shattering into thousands of pieces.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What the hell?" Toji said.  
  
"That beam." Maya said in disbelief. "It must turn organic matter into stone."  
  
"No way." Toji said. "That's not physically possible."   
  
"Ordinarily I'd agree." Maya replied. "But the evidence is right there."  
  
"Are you all right Tai?" Misato asked.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine." Tai said. "But that was too close."   
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"I didn't really." He said. "I just...felt it."  
  
"What about the Angel?" Toji asked.  
  
"Well apparently it doesn't think I'm a threat anymore." Indeed, the Angel had resumed its previous course toward Tokyo 3. "Smug bastard."  
  
"Well let's see how smug it is with a few dozen rockets up its ass." Kensuke said. "Michiru, exercise extreme caution. Stay out of range of its beam and hit it with the seeker rockets."  
  
"Understood."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru sought cover behind a nearby decoy building and waited for the Angel to come into range. She had been so calm a minute ago, now she could feel her heart pounding like a jackhammer. She took a few deep, calming breaths. *Calm down.* She told herself. *Just stay where it can't see you and send the rockets after it.*  
  
The sound of heavy footfalls told her that the Angel was in range. It seemed to be right behind her. Michiru grinned tightly and fired a volley of rockets into the air in front of her. The rockets rose high into the air, then swung around and dove toward the Angel, homing in on its unique waveform pattern.  
  
A low, quiet whine built up behind her. Suddenly a bolt of energy shot past Michiru and enveloped the rockets. The rockets lost their momentum in seconds and crashed to the ground, shattering just like Unit 14's wings.  
  
"No way." Michiru whispered.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This can't be happening." Misato said. "Organic matter I can *almost* accept, but those rockets weren't organic. How can we kill it if it can turn all our weapons into stone?"  
  
"Should we withdraw the EVAs?" Kaori asked.  
  
"They'd have to stand in one place too long getting on the lifts." Toji said. "We can't risk it."  
  
"So what are we going to do?"  
  
"Michiru. Tai." Misato said. "Keep that thing distracted. Don't let it enter the Geofront. We're working something out."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Got it."  
  
"Be careful you two."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko sat quietly in her EVA, feeling utterly useless. What was the point of being a pilot if all she did in a fight was hide underground and wait for Michiru and Tai to solve everything? She tried to sit still but she was too nervous, and too anxious to be out where she could actually do something useful, even if it was only to distract the Angel until they found a way to destroy it.  
  
She sighed heavily, sitting back in her seat. There was no point wishing. Her father would never send her out if there were any other way to deal with the problem. And he certainly wouldn't let her act as a decoy when they didn't even have a plan for how to kill the enemy yet.  
  
"If anybody's going to come up with a plan, now's the time!" Michiru yelled over the radio. "We can't keep this thing interested for much longer!"  
  
"She's right!" Tai said. "I think it knows we're just trying to stall it!"  
  
"Just keep hitting it with everything you have." Misato replied. "And watch out for its beam."  
  
That was the other problem. Even if they had no other options, her Dad probably wouldn't send her out there after seeing what this Angel could do. It was like Medusa in that old myth; anyone who tried to fight it was turned to stone.  
  
Suddenly, the answer came to her, like a light bulb clicking on in her head.   
  
* * * * *  
  
"So what do we do?" Toji asked. "None of our weapons will work against it. The EVAs can't get close enough for hand-to-hand. I don't like to say 'we're screwed', but..."  
  
"There has to be a way." Kensuke said. "That thing is a living creature. And anything alive can be killed, we just have to figure out how."  
  
"Send me out there!" Machiko suddenly yelled.  
  
"We already discussed this." Toji said firmly. "You're not ready. And anyway, having one more target for the Angel out there isn't going to help the situation."  
  
"But I can..."  
  
"I said no. This is an order. Stay put!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko sat back, waves of anger and frustration running through her. They wouldn't even listen. She knew how to kill the Angel. She was absolutely certain her plan would work, but her father wasn't even going to let her try.  
  
A lox buzz from her control panel drew Machiko's attention. A call was coming into the entry plug on a secure channel. Curious, Machiko activated the link. A young woman with blue hair appeared. She looked vaguely familiar; definitely a member of the bridge crew, but Machiko couldn't remember her name.  
  
"Why do you want to go out there so bad?" The woman asked in a hushed whisper.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"What's your rush all of a sudden? You know something we don't?"  
  
"Well...I know...I mean, I think I know how to kill that Angel."  
  
"Tell me." The officer said. "I'll pass it along."  
  
Machiko opened her mouth to speak, then thought better of it. "Nope."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I can't really explain it too well." Machiko lied. "You'll just have to send me out there so I can do it myself."  
  
"Not a chance." The older woman whispered. "The Major gave an order to..."  
  
"Yeah, believe me I know." Machiko said. "But I seem to be the only one who can take care of the situation, and he won't listen to me."  
  
The woman looked around for a moment, her face full of apprehension.  
  
"You promise me; swear on...whatever you believe in, that you can kill it!" She finally said.  
  
"I promise." Machiko replied.  
  
The officer nodded and typed a few commands into her console.  
  
"All right." She whispered. "You're set for automatic launch. Twenty second silent countdown; starting...now."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What if we used a positron rifle?" Maya asked. "It can't turn an energy beam into stone."  
  
"It would take too long to get a rifle out to them." Kensuke said. "And I'm not sure we should make assumptions about what that thing can and can't do."  
  
"He's got a point." Toji said. "So far it's been one surprise after..."  
  
"SIR!" Kaori suddenly yelled. "Unit 15 is launching!"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko gritted her teeth against the unexpected onslaught of g-forces as she launched. In seconds, She had cleared the launch tunnel and stepped out into daylight.  
  
"Machiko, what the hell are you doing?" He father yelled.  
  
"My job!" She said defiantly.  
  
"Get back here now!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Daddy." She said. "But I have to do this.  
  
Looking around, she spotted the Angel immediately. Tai and Michiru were still baiting it, trying to keep it from entering the Geofront. Target acquired, she scanned the horizon for her weapon. There, about a mile north of the city. Now came the hard part.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"She what?" Michiru asked.  
  
"You heard right." Misato said. "Machiko's out there with you."  
  
"Well send her back!" Tai said. "This one's way too dangerous."  
  
"Something we all tried to tell her, believe me." Misato replied. "But we can't bring her back in for the same reason that the two of you can't fall back. She'd be too easy a target and it would provide the Angel with a path into the Geofront."  
  
"So what do we do?" Michiru asked.  
  
"You're already keeping it away from us." Misato said. "Now just try to keep it away from her too."  
  
"Great. Just what we need." Michiru said to herself. With a sigh, she opened up a link to Machiko. "Machiko..." She began.  
  
"Before you tell me to stay out of the way, you should know that I've figured out how to kill the Angel." Machiko said.  
  
"Fine." Michiru replied. "Tell me and I'll do it."  
  
"It's not that simple." Machiko said. "Only Unit 15 can pull it off."  
  
"All right." Michiru said. "You have exactly thirty seconds to explain."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So basically the two of us lure the Angel over to the solar collectors, and then...?" Tai asked  
  
Machiko sighed. She had already explained the plan twice.  
  
"And then I stand in front of one of the mirrors and make myself a tempting target. When the Angel shoots at me, I'll dodge out of the way. The mirror should reflect the beam back and turn the Angel into stone."  
  
"You realize there are about a million and one things that could go wrong with this plan?" Tai asked.  
  
"If I had a better once, I'd suggest it." Machiko said.  
  
"Fine but I should be the target, not you." Michiru said.  
  
"No can-do." Machiko replied. "Unit 01 is too big to dodge in time, so is Unit 14. Trust me, I'm not thrilled with the idea, but I have to be the target."  
  
She was right about that at any rate. Unit 15 was the smallest Evangelion, built specifically for speed and agility. If any EVA could dodge the Angel's beam, it would be Unit 15.  
  
"If we're going to do this, we'd better do it soon." Tai said. "This thing won't wait forever."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The strange, familiar creatures were up to something. A third one had joined the battle, but had yet to attack. The other two were still circling around, keeping it away from its goal.  
  
Without warning, the attackers began firing their useless weapons at the Angel in unison. Angered, it temporarily abandoned its goal in order to destroy them.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"The Angel is following Units 01 and 14." Kaori said.  
  
"I hope you know what you're doing..." Toji whispered to his daughter.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Here it comes!" Tai yelled.  
  
Machiko nodded and flexed her leg muscles, getting ready to jump. She understood the risk she was taking quite well. If she didn't dodge at precisely the right moment...well best not to dwell on that. Better to concentrate on hitting that precise right moment.  
  
"Ready Machiko?" Michiru asked.  
  
Machiko nodded. "Close enough."  
  
Before Michiru could reply, the Angel came into view, stepping out of the city and into the fields around the solar collectors.  
  
"HEY!" Machiko yelled. "OVER HERE YOU BIG UGLY...THING!"  
  
The Angel probably didn't hear her, but it certainly noticed Unit 15 waving its arms around. It turned its main eye on the silver EVA. Suddenly Machiko couldn't move. Any second now she would have to dodge, but the Angel's gaze paralyzed her as surely as its beam soon would. She could barely breathe, let alone move.  
  
"Help..." She managed to whisper. "Help!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What's she doing?" Tai asked.  
  
"She should be crouching or something." Michiru said. "She can't dodge like that."  
  
"Help..." Machiko's voice came over the radio in a hoarse whisper. "Help!"  
  
Beside him Tai heard the Angel's beam powering up.  
  
"She can't move!" He sprinted forward, knowing all the while that no matter what he did, it would be too late.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko knew she was going to die. She couldn't have known that the Angel's gaze would paralyze her with terror. Now its eye was glowing, at any second the deadly beam would hit her. Tears of fear and regret pouring from her, she closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.  
  
She heard the beam explode out of the Angel, waited to feel it hit her. Instead, an enormous weight crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. Looking up, she saw Unit 14 lying on top of her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It didn't look as if Tai was going to make it. Michiru would have screamed at him to hurry, but there was no time. And it wouldn't have done any good anyway.  
  
Time seemed to slow down as Unit 14 sprinted for Unit 15. It all came down to a race between Tai and the Angel's petrifying beam. He seemed to hit the smaller EVA at the same time as the beam. At first, Michiru thought that both had been hit. But then they fell to the ground and the Angel's weapon impacted on the reflector behind them.  
  
The mirror absorbed the energy and exploded, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. But not before reflecting a good amount back to its source. The Angel made no sound, but Michiru could have sworn its eyes widened in alarm just before the beam hit it. An instant later, a motionless statue stood where the Angel had been.   
  
"Tai? Machiko?" She asked.  
  
"We're fine." Tai said, breathing heavily more from worry than exertion.  
  
"Did we get it?" Machiko asked.  
  
"Yeah." Tai said. "We got it."  
  
Michiru wasn't so sure, however. She calmly walked around the petrified Angel, examining it from every possible angle. Finally, she stood in front of it and delivered a quick, powerful kick straight into its main eye. The Angel shattered instantly.   
  
"So..." Tai asked quietly after a moment. "Did we get it?"  
  
Michiru smiled apologetically. "Just making sure."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Misato sat at her desk and gazed at Lieutenant Tanaka, sitting silently across from her with a NERV security guard on either side. Through the windows on all sides, she could see the Geofront darkening as night fell above. She hated reprimanding officers up here. It made her feel too much like her predecessor.  
  
"Thank you, gentlemen. I can take it from here." The guards nodded and headed for the elevator. When they were gone, Misato turned her attention back to Minako.  
  
"I don't think I need to tell you how insanely stupid what you did was." She said. "You know better than anyone that every command the MAGI take can be traced back to its source, so I can't imagine that you were hoping to get away with it."  
  
"No." Minako replied quietly. "I wasn't."  
  
"You realize that you could very easily have gotten Machiko killed, don't you? If Tai had been even a second slower..."  
  
"I know." Minako said. "I have no excuse for my behavior. And I'll accept whatever action you feel is appropriate."  
  
"Well there's the problem." Misato said. "Anyone else who pulled a stunt like this would be emptying out their locker right now. But I'd rather not send away a highly capable officer with an otherwise flawless record right when she's needed the most."  
  
Minako nodded. If she was happy about not losing her job or thankful for the implied compliment, she hid it well.  
  
"However, that doesn't mean I can just overlook this incident." Misato continued. "I'm putting you on three weeks suspension without pay. Additionally, you will be demoted to Corporal."  
  
"Understood." Minako said.  
  
"Dismissed."  
  
Minako stood and headed for the elevator.  
  
"Why did you do it?" Misato asked.  
  
Minako didn't turn around. "Machiko told me she knew how to kill it." She said. "It deserved to die." The elevator arrived and she stepped inside. "They all deserve to die."  
  
Before Misato could reply, the elevator doors slid closed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It seemed to Machiko that it had never taken her father nearly as long to drive through Tokyo 3 as it was taking tonight. Worse was the fact that he had yet to say *anything* to her. The silent treatment was killing her.  
  
"Would you please just say something!" She finally blurted out. "Just...get mad! Or tell me I'm grounded! Or...just say something."  
  
"What is there to say?" He replied. "You disobeyed a direct order. And you nearly got yourself killed. Nothing I can say will change that."  
  
"Well technically *I* didn't launch the EVA." She said. The look her dad gave her let her know immediately that she hadn't provided the right response.  
  
"This isn't a game Machiko." He said sternly. "Lieutenant Tanaka is not exactly...stable right now. And whether you knew it or not, you took advantage of her. And that is inexcusable."  
  
"I just...wanted to help." Machiko said. Her voice probably wouldn't have caught like it had if something hadn't hit her at that moment. Lieutenant Tanaka was the one sitting next to Lieutenant Kusanagi's mother at his funeral. She had to be the 'Fiancée' mentioned in the eulogy. Suddenly, Machiko felt *very* bad. Her father was right; it was inexcusable.  
  
"You'll have plenty of chances to help." He said. "But from now on, I expect that when someone of higher rank gives you an order, you'll follow it. And since they decided to make you an actual Cadet, *everyone* at NERV outranks you now."  
  
"Even Michiru and Tai?"  
  
"*Especially* Michiru and Tai. They've both been doing this a lot longer than you have. So if they tell you something about how to fight, it's safe to assume that they know what they're talking about."  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Minako Tanaka stood alone in front of the small grave marker. It literally seemed like yesterday that she had been here at the funeral; when, in fact, it had been over a week. She had lost track of the days somehow. Minako shuddered at the thought.  
  
She knelt down, running one hand lovingly over the cool marble.  
  
"You don't have to worry about me anymore." She said. "I think I'll be alright now." She actually managed a small smile, though tears gathered at the edges of her eyes. "And those three kids are as good as they come. I know they'll take care of the city. And I'll help them however I can. I promise."  
  
She stood and headed for the wrought iron gate that led out of the graveyard, only pausing once for a last glance behind her.  
  
"Goodbye."  
  
* * * * *  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
Author's Note: This chapter marks the end of the first major part of Evangelion: OMEGA. The next half of the story will deal largely with the continuing battle against the Angels and the increasingly pressing question of just what the hell is up with Tai. Thanks for sticking with this story so long, I promise it only gets better from here on in. 


	10. InfectionThe Betrayal of Blood

* * * * * Legal Stuff: If I owned the original Evangelion, I wouldn't have to write this sequel as fanfic. Now please follow that train of logic to 'don't sue me' station. * * * * * Dedication: The folks at WebMD, where I did all the medical research for this chapter. * * * * * Author's Note: Once again, my bad for taking so long. * * * * *  
  
* * * * *  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA  
  
Chapter 0:10- Infection/The Betrayal of Blood  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Release EVAs!" With a shudder, Unit 15 drifted away from it's transport and fell to the ground. Machiko closed her eyes and tried to ignore the weightless feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't decide which was worse, the positive g-force of launching up from underground or the negative g-force of dropping out of the transport.  
  
She bent her knees just as she had been told, landing in a crouching position. The ground shook as Michiru dropped next to her in Unit 01. A few seconds later, Unit 14 glided gently to the ground, folding its wings as it touched down.  
  
"Must be nice having wings." Machiko muttered.  
  
"It has its perks." Tai said.  
  
"What's the situation, Misato?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Yeah, what's going on?" Machiko asked. Her guards usually took her to NERV, or more often straight to the briefing room, as soon as the alarms went off. One of these days she was going to find out why NERV didn't trust her with a cell phone like Michiru and Tai. Today, however, they had taken her straight to the airfield, where the EVA transports were already waiting. The transports dropped them off in New Yokosuka, right by the harbor.  
  
"Well we've made a bit of history today." Misato said. "We actually detected the Angel *before* it hit land. You should be seeing its wake in about two minutes."  
  
"So we've got the drop on the Angel for a change?" Michiru asked.  
  
"That's right." Misato smiled. "Expand your AT Fields."  
  
"Finally." Tai said. "An easy one."  
  
"Hey!" Michiru snapped. "Remember what happened the last time you said that?"  
  
"Oh, right."  
  
"What happened?" Machiko asked.  
  
Tai frowned slightly. "I died."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"One minute to visual range." Minako said. "The Angel is moving at approximately twenty knots. Current scans indicate a roughly humanoid configuration."  
  
"Size?" Major Suzahara asked.  
  
"Unknown." Minako said.  
  
"I'm just going to go out on a limb and say 'big'." Kaori added.  
  
Misato flipped on the holographic link to the entry plugs. "All right guys, this one's a humanoid. Beyond that, all bets are probably off. Proceed with caution."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Proceed with caution..." Machiko muttered, making sure her link to the command center was off. "When do we *not* proceed with caution?"  
  
Looking out over the harbor, she could see a wake already beginning to form as the massive Angel pushed water out of its path in its relentless approach.  
  
Machiko lifted her rifle and aimed it at the approaching behemoth. Her stomach began to tighten. She had been in battle against an Angel once before, but given her less than stellar performance that time the thought wasn't very comforting. Oh she had killed the Angel, sure; but if Tai hadn't tackled her she would have been a statue and the Angel would have gotten away, so she couldn't really claim the victory as her own.  
  
Now she was hit by the depressing realization that although her rifle was actually taller than the apartment she lived in, it was woefully small compared to her enemy.  
  
"Um guys...are these things even going to work?"  
  
"They never have before." Michiru said, giving her a reassuring smile. "But there's a first time for everything."  
  
That would have been comforting, except for one thing: Machiko was the only one who had a rifle. Unit 01 was armed with the guided rocket launcher while Unit 14 carried its trademark double-bladed sword. Machiko couldn't help feeling she had somehow drawn the short straw.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"We have visual, Commander." Minako said.  
  
"Put it on the main screen."  
  
The screen above the tactical map lit up with an image of the Angel, standing knee deep in the harbor. It reminded Misato a little bit of Sachiel, the Third Angel. It had two arms and two legs, covered in thick, leathery brown skin. Like most Angels it had little or no head, just a protrusion of bone that seemed to form a face or mask of some type. Right below the mask was the glowing red core, the Angel's one weak point. In place of hands, its arms tapered down into two wicked looking harpoons. No other weapons were visible, but experience demanded caution.  
  
"Keep scanning the Angel, look for any weapons that may not be visible. And keep an eye on its energy readings."  
  
"Yes Ma'am." Kaori said.  
  
"This doesn't make sense." Kensuke said. "They've been getting progressively more powerful every time but now we have another Godzilla clone. There has to be something more."  
  
"Yeah, but what?" Toji replied.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What say we get this one over with quick?" Tai said.  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Machiko replied.  
  
"Can we please not rush into this?" Michiru said. "That *is* an Angel out there. When has it *ever* been easy to kill an Angel?"  
  
"The lady's got a point." Tai agreed. "Still I think I can take this guy. Just give me a minute here." He stepped forward.  
  
"Hey, hold on!" Machiko called. "What happened to 'ladies first'?"  
  
Tai came back on, smiling. "In this case, it's 'age before beauty'." He winked at them before turning his attention back to the Angel. Machiko found herself blushing a little while Michiru simply rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself.  
  
Unit 14 turned and waded into the ocean, raising its massive sword. The Angel saw Tai coming. Even as the giant blade swung down toward it, the skin on the Angel's left arm began to harden. By the time the blade reached it, the arm was hard enough to deflect the blow easily. The Angel used Tai's momentary loss of balance to its advantage, reaching across with its free arm and stabbing Unit 14 in the chest. Tai hissed in pain as the barbed appendage penetrated his armor. Before he could react, the Angel retracted its arm and backhanded Unit 14. The EVA sent up a tremendous wave as it crashed into the ocean.  
  
"Ah! Son of a..." Tai struggled to his feet.  
  
"Tai! Tai, are you all right?" Major Suzahara called over the comm. link.  
  
"I think so." Tai said, rubbing his chest. "It just barely got through the armor. It...burns though."  
  
"It could be some kind of poison." Maya said. "Or an allergic reaction in the EVA."  
  
"Any danger to the pilot?" He heard Misato ask.  
  
"I don't see how, except it could distract him."  
  
Misato's holographic image appeared before him. "Fall back, Tai." She said. "Michiru, Machiko; move in and take turns."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Just like we practiced, Machiko." Michiru said.  
  
"You got it." Machiko aimed and fired a volley of bullets at the Angel. As she had expected, the bullets didn't scratch her enemy, but that was never the point. Her job was to distract the Angel while Michiru moved into position. Seconds later, she heard a series of faint explosions as Michiru emptied all six barrels of her rocket launcher at the Angel. The rockets swung in fast and engulfed the Angel in a wall of fire. Even as the big gun labored to refill its empty chambers, movement came from within the cloud of smoke and steam where the Angel had been standing  
  
Before either of them could react, the Angel burst out of the dissipating cloud and stabbed Unit 01 with both of its harpoon-like arms, immobilizing the EVA. Machiko rushed to help Michiru, but before she even reached the Angel, it pulled one of its arms out of Unit 01, stretched it to an impossible length, and sent it flying for Unit 15.  
  
Machiko relaxed and centered her concentration on the approaching weapon. At this range, her AT Field wouldn't protect her; the Angel's field had already neutralized it. So the goal was obvious: don't get hit. Just as the harpoon came within range, Machiko crouched and launched Unit 15 into the air, flipping to keep the Angel in sight. It wasn't an easy move to do; neither of the other EVAs could have pulled it off at all. But Unit 15 was built specifically for that kind of agility. Machiko landed on her feet facing her enemy. Even as she touched down, she raised her rifle and sent another ineffectual wave of bullets flying toward the Angel.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai turned around, having fallen back to what he considered a safe distance. He wanted to go back and help, but Misato had made her orders perfectly clear, he was to fall back until they could figure out what the Angel had done to his EVA. Engaging Unit 14's long-range scanners, Tai saw the Angel stab Unit and attack Unit 15 when Machiko rushed in to help. The 'little' EVA executed a brilliant twisting flip, landing well out of range of the Angel's harpoon, or so it seemed.  
  
Even as Machiko regained her footing, the stretching arm swung around and drove at her from behind. Even if she had seen it, she wouldn't have had time to dodge. The harpoon struck Unit 15 in the small of the back, bursting out through the EVAs chest an instant later.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru heard Machiko scream as Unit 15 was impaled on the Angel's barbed harpoon. She saw the weapon burst out of the smaller EVA's chest, shattering its silvery armor. A few trickles of crimson through the creases in the helmet indicated that Unit 15 was coughing up its own blood. But above all else, the panicked, agonized look on Machiko's face burned itself into Michiru's mind.  
  
Dropping her useless rocket launcher, Michiru engaged Unit 01's progressive knife, slashing at the arm that held her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai was about to go back and help Michiru. With his sword, he could cut through the Angel's arms a lot easier than Michiru could with only her knife. But just when he was taking his first step in that direction, his vision began to blur. The burning in his chest had grown to a blazing fire, making it difficult to breathe. He took another staggering step forward, dimly aware that he had sunken to his knees. He wasn't going to be helping Michiru and Machiko. He would be lucky if someone came and helped him in time.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Tai's losing consciousness!" Kaori yelled.  
  
"His connection is breaking off." Maya pointed to the signal graph for Unit 14. The graphs were flowing backwards as Tai's nerve patterns fell out of sync with Unit 14's.  
  
"Tai, can you hear me?" Misato called to him. No response. "Tai! Respond!"  
  
"He's unconscious, Commander." Minako said.  
  
"Damn it! Eject the entry plug, get him to medical ASAP!"  
  
"We've got another problem!" Maya interrupted. "Machiko and Michiru are losing signal resolution as well!"  
  
"What the hell is going on?" Toji wondered aloud, watching as Units 01 and 15 lost synchronization and tumbled to the ground.  
  
"Get them out of there!" Misato ordered.  
  
At the press of a button, the entry plugs shot out of the EVAs, landing far from the Angel.  
  
"Toji," Misato said, reaching for the smaller of her two necklaces. "Get your key."  
  
Toji nodded and pulled his own missile key out of his inside jacket pocket, inserting it into the control panel next to Misato's.  
  
"Three...Two...One." Misato counted. On 'one' they turned their keys. In the center of Misato's console, a small panel marked with yellow and black lines popped open, revealing a red telephone. Misato picked up the receiver and waited while it dialed automatically.  
  
"This is Katsuragi. As soon as the entry plugs are out of range, initiate backup."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"At 11:46:13 Units 01, 14, and 15 engaged the enemy in New Yokosuka harbor." Maya said, motioning to surveillance photos of the battle. "All three EVAs took damage from the Angel's natural weapons. At 11:59:45, Unit 14 lost synchronization due to what we believe to be poisoning administered by the Angel. Units 01 and 15 deactivated shortly thereafter."  
  
The view changed to a huge crater, slowly filling with water. Unit 01 and Unit 15 lay in the center of the crater, next to about half of the Angel.  
  
"At 12:04:37 NERV Second Branch in New Mexico attacked the Angel with an ICBM equipped with an N2 warhead. 47% of the target was incinerated."  
  
"Didn't we just leave this party?" Misato muttered. She turned to the three pilots. "What happened?"  
  
"When the Angel stabbed us, it must have done something that broke synchronization." Michiru said. "We were fine once they got us out of the EVAs."  
  
"So is it dead?" Machiko asked.  
  
"Unfortunately, no." Maya replied. "The Angel is regenerating as we speak. At its current rate of regeneration, we predict it will be mobile again in just under twenty-seven hours."  
  
"How much damage did the EVAs sustain in the blast?" Toji asked.  
  
"The armor on all three Evangelions was melted down to the third layer." Kensuke said. "It should only take a few hours to replace it. Units 01 and 14 will be ready for combat again in approximately fourteen hours. Unfortunately, Unit 15 took a great deal more damage from the Angel than the others. It won't be fully regenerated before the deadline."  
  
"That means it's up to you two." Misato turned to Tai and Michiru. "Get some rest and report back here in fifteen hours. That should give us plenty of time to destroy the Angel before it regenerates." Michiru and Tai nodded. "Dismissed."  
  
Michiru and Tai stood up and headed for the door. Machiko stayed in her seat, staring at the gigantic crater on the view screen.  
  
"Machiko?" Her dad sat down next to her. "Something wrong?"  
  
"I thought I was ready." Machiko whispered, rubbing her chest even though the pain was long gone. "I thought I could handle it."  
  
"The important thing is that you're safe."  
  
"I'm useless. I couldn't help at all. They'll probably be better off without me."  
  
"This was only your second time out, sweetie." He sighed. "I don't think it's any big secret that I wasn't thrilled about getting you into all this."  
  
"Maybe you were right." Machiko said bitterly.  
  
"Maybe I wasn't." That surprised Machiko, she turned to him. "You're doing fine, Machiko." He said. "I'll probably never like having to make you do this, but I'm proud of how you're doing."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Absolutely. I'm proud of everything you do."  
  
Machiko smiled. "Thanks Dad. That really..." She stopped as a sudden wave of dizziness hit her.  
  
"Machiko?" Her father asked, concerned.  
  
"I don't...feel so good." She tired to stand, but fell back in her chair. The dizziness was now accompanied by a feeling of intense nausea as her vision began to blur. She felt too weak to move.  
  
"Machiko, you're sweating." Her father's voice sounded far away. "What's wrong?"  
  
She wanted to answer him, but by the time she came up with a response, she figured he would be much too far away to hear it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This doesn't look good." Michiru said.  
  
"Hmmm?" Tai replied absently, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"Yeah." He said. "Just a little headache. Probably from that smack down I got." He smiled. "Don't worry about it."  
  
"If you say so." Michiru stretched her stiff muscles. "Oh, this is crazy! You know, it's one thing for Misato to tell us to get rest, but how am I supposed to sleep knowing that thing is still out there?"  
  
"Oh we'll figure something out." Tai assured her.  
  
"I don't know if that's such a good idea." She said gently.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Well I doubt anything *we* might do would be very restful."  
  
He laughed softly. "Yeah, you're probably right."  
  
"Take a rain check?"  
  
Tai smiled. "Any time." Leaning over, he kissed her lightly. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."  
  
Michiru smiled and nodded. "Thanks." She turned to follow him, but a wave of intense vertigo came over her. She stopped, trying to clear her head. The entire world suddenly seemed to be spinning out of control. She staggered, feeling as though her legs were turning to jelly.  
  
"Tai," she managed to call out. "Something's...wrong..."  
  
Tai turned just as her legs gave out. "Michiru!" He rushed forward to catch her. "What's wrong? Michiru!"  
  
But she couldn't respond. It was hard to even hear the question; Tai's voice sounded muffled and distorted in her head, like a record played at half speed. Before she lost consciousness, she felt Tai lifting her in his arms and running toward medical wing. Then everything went dark and silent.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Get her on the table!" Maya moved out of the way, allowing Toji to place Machiko's still form on the exam table. She had to work fast if they were going to keep the girl alive, never mind finding out what was wrong with her.  
  
"Pulse is faint!" The young nurse said. "I'm only getting thirty-four beats-per-minute!"  
  
"Pupils are dilated." Maya said, checking Machiko's eyes. "What the hell happened to her?"  
  
"I don't know!" Toji replied. "One minute she was fine, the next..."  
  
"Somebody help!" Tai staggered into the infirmary, carrying an unconscious Michiru. "She..." He stopped short. "Machiko too?"  
  
Maya didn't hesitate. "That's it." She said quickly. "We need to go to Level 1 quarantine! Seal off HQ, no one gets out! We need to isolate all three pilots along with anyone who's had contact with them since they got back to headquarters!" She turned to her assistant. "Page the rest of the medical staff, get them all in here. We'll put Michiru and Machiko in the intensive units, everyone else in Quarantine Four."  
  
"Yes, Doctor!" The young woman headed for the phone and began dialing.  
  
"Major, get Machiko!" Maya said. "Tai, you come too, bring Michiru!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What's the situation, Doctor?" Misato asked.  
  
"Michiru and Machiko are suffering from an unknown viral pathogen. It seems safe to assume that the virus was introduced into their systems when the Angel stabbed their Evangelions."  
  
"I thought you said there was no danger to the pilots." Toji said.  
  
"There shouldn't have been." Maya said. "The entry plugs are sealed environments. Even if the Evangelions are exposed to an infection, there should be no way for the infection to spread to the pilots."  
  
"So how did this happen?"  
  
"I don't know. We'll need to examine the EVAs more closely. Somehow the virus must have worked its way into the LCL filtration system, that's the only thing I can think of."  
  
"For now I'm more worried about how to get rid of this virus." Misato said. "We can figure out how it got in them later."  
  
"That's going to be the really tricky part." Maya said. "This virus is unlike anything I've ever seen. The good news is that it doesn't seem to be communicable. But that's the *only* good news. The virus is destroying the pilots' red blood cells. That in itself isn't too abnormal, but it's progressing faster than any virus I've ever seen. The nearest on record would be the Ebola Virus."  
  
"Ebola's practically extinct. There hasn't been a reported case in fifteen years." Kensuke said.  
  
Maya nodded. "Well this isn't Ebola. It's much, much worse. To give you an idea, the Ebola Virus usually had an incubation period of at least a day or two, death usually occurred a week after infection. With this virus, the incubation period was only a few hours. And at the current rate of cell destruction...Michiru will be dead in twelve hours."  
  
"And...Machiko?" Toji asked.  
  
Maya frowned and shook her head. "Ten hours...at best."  
  
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Kensuke asked.  
  
Maya sighed. "I'm going to start blood transfusions. But all that's going to do is buy us some time. It won't buy us that much though; we only have a limited supply of synthetic blood in the infirmary and we can't break quarantine to get more in."  
  
"What about donors?" Misato asked. "We've got at least a thousand people here who aren't infected."  
  
"Machiko and I have the same blood type." Toji said.  
  
"Yes, but you can only give so much, we'll need more than one donor for each of them. Machiko shouldn't be too hard; her blood type is fairly common. But Michiru is type O Negative, she can't take any kind of blood except O Neg."  
  
Misato nodded grimly. "All right. Let's work out a schedule to get everyone here tested for compatibility. Maya, get your staff working on a way to cure this. Everyone else report back to your departments and advise your people to stay calm. We still have one pilot available, so we can deal with the Angel as soon as Unit 14 is ready for combat. Our priority right now is to take care of Machiko and Michiru. Dismissed." Everyone began to file out of the conference room. "Maya, could you stay for a minute."  
  
Maya nodded and came back from the door, sitting down next to Misato.  
  
"*Why* do we still have a pilot available?"  
  
"I don't know." The younger woman said. "The entry plug design is identical in all three EVAs. Tai *should* be infected just like the others."  
  
"Find out why he isn't." Misato said. "I'm authorizing any means necessary. I want to know why it didn't affect him."  
  
"Because that could be the key to curing the girls?"  
  
Misato frowned. "That too."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The steady beeping of the heart monitor let Tai know that Michiru was still alive. He couldn't have been certain any other way. She lay motionless in the hospital bed, her breathing too shallow to be visible. Her hand felt cold in his.  
  
"Tai." Dr. Ibuki said softly. "Can I talk to you for a minute."  
  
Reluctantly, Tai let go of Michiru's hand and stood up.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I need to take a sample of your blood."  
  
"I thought you said I couldn't give them blood." Tai said. "If the Virus is in my system it wouldn't even do them any good."  
  
"I know." She said. "This isn't for donation. I want a chance to study your blood."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I thought you we're a med student." She said. "I should think it would be obvious."  
  
"Humor me. It's been a long day."  
  
"Somehow, you're immune to this virus. If I can find out why, maybe I'll be able to translate that into a cure for Michiru and Machiko."  
  
Tai unhesitatingly rolled up his sleeve. "Let's get started."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I've had a chance to study the virus more closely." Maya said, aiming her laser pointer at the video screen in the front of the conference room. The screen showed an enlarged picture of one of the viral bodies, a spherical arrangement of geometric shapes. "The viral bodies attach themselves to the red blood cells, then inject their own DNA, which acts as a poison, collapsing the cell walls and destroying the cell."  
  
"That doesn't make sense." Misato said. "How does it reproduce?"  
  
"It doesn't. Its behavior is unlike any virus on record. Most viruses are parasites, using the host to propagate their own DNA. Even in the case of deadly viruses, death is a side effect, not the goal. But this virus seems to exist specifically to destroy its host as quickly as possible. There's no way for the Virus to spread to a new host and no way for it to survive beyond the death of its original host."  
  
"So it's not so much a virus as a biological weapon that imitates the form and behavior of a virus?"  
  
"There's one other possibility." Maya said, hitting a button on the remote control. The picture changed to show a group of viral bodies somewhere in Michiru's femoral artery, according to the labels on the screen. "This is what happened when Michiru's immune system attacked the virus."  
  
The video showed a group of white blood cells approaching one of the viral bodies. To Misato's untrained eye, it looked like several blobs of white play-do attacking a soccer ball. But before the white blood cells could attach themselves, they were brought up short as a shimmering field of concentric hexagons appeared in front of them.  
  
"An AT Field?"  
  
Maya nodded. "We've been operating on the assumption that this virus was one of the Angel's weapons. But according to this, the Virus *itself* is an Angel."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Pretty sure." Maya said.  
  
"I need you to be *absolutely* sure." Misato said. "If this is what it looks like, then that means that two Angels worked in concert specifically to disrupt our capacity to fight back with the EVAs."  
  
"They're getting smarter, aren't they?" Maya asked in a fearful whisper.  
  
"Smarter and stronger." Misato said. "One way or another...this war will be over soon."  
  
* * * * *  
  
--THINGS ARE PROGRESSING QUITE WELL.--  
  
"Of course they are." Keele said. "I told you, all we had to do was wait."  
  
--YOU HAVE LEFT OUT ONE VITAL PIECE OF INFORMATION.--  
  
--WHAT?--  
  
--WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?--  
  
"I'm not hiding anything." Keele replied calmly. "I simply didn't feel it was worth mentioning."  
  
--NOT WORTH MENTIONING? THE SEVENTH CHILD IS COMPLETELY IMMUNE TO THE ILLNESS! HOW IS THAT NOT WORTH MENTIONING?--  
  
He turned calmly to the '05' monolith. "Were you counting on the Angel to solve the entire problem in one blow?"  
  
--THAT IS WHAT YOU ASSURED US WOULD HAPPEN!-- The other man's voice boomed out of the monolith. --THE PROPHECIES *WHICH YOU DECIPHERED* INDICATED THAT THE ANGELS WOULD MANIFEST GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE POWER. YOU ASSURED US THAT NERV WOULD FALL!--  
  
"Since I'm sure you record these little chats of ours, despite specific instructions not to, I suggest you go back into you records before telling me what I have and have not said." Keele snapped. "When the Seventh Child was discovered, I specifically said that Third Impact through the Angels was no longer an option."  
  
--YOU'VE BEEN HIDING BEHIND HALF-TRUTHS AND DELIBERATETLY VAGUE PREDICTIONS EVER SINCE IKARI RETURNED TO TOKYO 3.--  
  
--ADMIT IT. YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE EVENTS WILL LEAD!--  
  
"Careful." He said in a low dangerous tone. "You go too far."  
  
--THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE HAVE NOT YET GONE FAR ENOUGH!--  
  
--OUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT. IF ACTION IS NOT TAKEN SOON THE SCENARIO WILL BE RUINED. IT IS TIME WE STOPPED LISTENING THIS OLD MAN AND TOOK MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS.--  
  
Keele almost laughed out loud. "Listen to yourselves. What will you do? Attack NERV? Capture EVA for yourselves?" He chuckled. "You fools. It's too late for that. There is one chance for our New World to be born and it lies in the very heart of NERV. Any action you take could destroy that chance."  
  
--WE ARE THROUGH TAKING YOUR ORDERS.--  
  
--LET THIS SERVE AS NOTIFICATION OF YOUR REMOVAL FROM THIS COUNCIL.--  
  
"You think you can get rid of me?"  
  
--I BELIEVE WE JUST DID.--  
  
"Very well." Keele did his best to sound defeated. "If you're all against me...I will step aside gracefully. Shall we reconvene in one hour to make it official?"  
  
--VERY WELL.--  
  
--ONE HOUR.--  
  
The monoliths vanished, plunging the room into darkness. Keele leaned back in his chair sighing.  
  
"Lights." A soft, female voice called out from behind him. The overhead lights snapped on, revealing a slim woman in her late thirties standing in the doorway.  
  
A smile came to Keele's lips. "I suppose you were listening."  
  
"Why Grandfather, I'm shocked." The woman feigned a scandalized gasp as she crossed the room to sit across from Keele. "You know only members of the Seventh Circle are allowed to know what takes place in meetings of the Council. And I've only made it up to six so far."  
  
Keele laughed. "Of course."  
  
Raina Lorenz frowned, shaking her head. "They're idiots."  
  
"Well of course they are. You don't think they got to where they are today by being intelligent, do you? They are in the Seventh Circle specifically because their stupidity made them easy to control."  
  
"And now?" Raina asked.  
  
"And now, in their limited way, they are beginning to realize this. And in their arrogance, they assume they can change it."  
  
"We should have gotten rid of them long ago."  
  
"At the time it was necessary to keep them. Just as Ikari was needed to make the Evangelions work, their resources were needed to build them."  
  
"Of course." Raina said.  
  
"But...now they want to have their little coup at my expense. And that, I cannot allow." Keele said, leaning back in his chair. "I think it's time we...dissolved the Council."  
  
Raina's face lit up with a predatory grin. "I'll get right on it." She stood and headed out of the room.  
  
Keele watched her go, knowing that she was headed for the secure phone lines to call his deep cover operatives around the world. In half an hour, every member of the Seventh Circle, save himself, would be dead.  
  
"It didn't have to be this way my friends." Keele said quietly. "You should have kept the faith."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Machiko was pale as death. Whatever blood remained in her small body was needed in more vital areas, leaving the capillaries just beneath her skin empty. It had been seven hours since she had fallen ill, and it was only thanks to transfusions from a half-dozen NERV staff members that she still clung precariously to life.  
  
Toji hadn't left his daughter's side since she fell ill. He had given as much blood as he could, far more than was probably safe. As a result, he looked almost as pale and sickly as Machiko.  
  
Maya pulled another chair up to the bed, sitting down next to Toji. He barely seemed to notice her presence.  
  
"Any luck?" He suddenly asked. Apparently he had noticed her after all.  
  
"We're working on a way to neutralize the AT Fields protecting the viruses. If we can do that, their immune systems should destroy the Angel. And we're studying Tai's blood too."  
  
"Any luck?" He asked again.  
  
Maya sighed. "Major...Toji, it's going to take a little time."  
  
"Look at her!" He suddenly yelled. "She doesn't have 'a little time'! She doesn't have any time!"  
  
"We've had enough blood donated to keep her alive for another twenty- four hours..."  
  
"And then what? There's only so much blood in this place!"  
  
"I am doing everything I can." Maya said calmly. "I will find a cure for her. I promise."  
  
"Don't do that." Toji said, turning back to Machiko. "Don't make promises you may not be able to keep."  
  
Sensing that anything else she said would only upset him further, Maya quietly left to check on Michiru, who had her own guardian keeping watch over her.  
  
"I heard what you said about Machiko." Tai said quietly. "How you can keep her alive for another twenty-four hours."  
  
"Give or take, yeah."  
  
"And Michiru?" He asked.  
  
"Michiru...has a hard blood type to match."  
  
"I know. O Neg. can only take O Neg."  
  
"And there's only three other people in the building who have that type of blood." Maya said. "We've bought her...another five hours. Beyond that, I don't know."  
  
"And what about my blood?" Tai asked. "What did you find?"  
  
"Nothing." Maya said, trying not to let her frustration come to the surface. "There's no evidence that the virus even got into your system."  
  
"I just...I feel so useless just sitting here!"  
  
"You've done everything you can." Maya assured him.  
  
"That's just it!" He cried, slamming a fist down onto the arm of his chair. "'Everything I can do' pretty much amounts to jack shit!" He seemed to calm down a bit, sinking back into his chair. "I can't do this any more, Doc. I can't just sit here and watch her die."  
  
"Tai, all we can do now is wait for the lab to come up with something."  
  
"Maybe that's all you can do." He said, standing up and hitting a button on the intercom next to him. "Commander."  
  
"Tai?" Misato's voice came through the speaker. "What is it?"  
  
"How soon can Unit 14 activate again."  
  
"Well it's...it's not fully regenerated yet, Tai." Misato said. "And the armor hasn't been replaced. It'll be another seven hours."  
  
"Can it walk?" Tai's frustration was beginning to rise again. "Can if physically stand on its legs and carry a weapon."  
  
"Theoretically yes, but..."  
  
"Then have them replace the armor and send me out now, before the Angel regenerates."  
  
"No." Misato said. "That's crazy, I'm not sending you out there until Unit 14 is completely healed."  
  
"Misato, please." Tai begged her. "I need to do this now. That Angel won't even fight back, and once it's dead maybe we can study the body and find a cure."  
  
"This is thin, Tai." Misato said.  
  
"But if there's even the slightest chance that we could find a way to save Michiru and Machiko we owe it to them to take it."  
  
Misato sighed and Maya swore she could hear the Commander weighing her options.  
  
"Maya, what do you think?" She asked  
  
Maya found that, despite her own reservations, she could not resist the pleading look in Tai's eyes. "It...might help." She finally said.  
  
"All right." Misato relented. "Be ready to launch in one hour."  
  
As soon as the intercom clicked off, Maya turned to Tai.  
  
"You know this is probably futile."  
  
"I know." He replied quietly.  
  
"This virus is an Angel in its own right. The two probably aren't even related."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Well then why..."  
  
"I can't save either of them." Tai said. "But I can at least kill the thing that did this to them."  
  
* * * * *  
  
It was early evening by the time Unit 14 reached the battleground. Tai's chest burned as he touched down at the edge of the still smoking crater. Unit 14's wound had been cleaned out, but it hadn't had time to heal properly. The new armor on the Evangelion's chest rubbed uncomfortably against the wound with even the slightest motion.  
  
The Angel stood motionless in the center of the crater. It had regenerated most of its body, but parts of it seemed only half formed. The sections that had been incinerated in the blast still lacked skin, baring charred, atrophied muscles to the rapidly cooling air. The Angel certainly looked dead, but in this case appearances were quite plainly deceiving. Only hours ago, those same muscles had been completely nonexistent, having been destroyed in a non-nuclear blast.  
  
Tai folded his wings and made his way down toward ground zero. The Angel remained motionless as he approached. Tai stood before the half-dead giant and lifted his sword, aiming for the glowing red core.  
  
Suddenly, Minako Tanaka's holographic image appeared before him.  
  
"Energy buildup!" She yelled. "Inside the target! Tai that thing's alive!"  
  
Before he could respond, the Angels harpoon arm shot out, stabbing Unit 14 through the abdomen. Tai cried out in pain and frustration as he felt the barbed appendage bite into his flesh. He raised his own weapon, but before he could bring it down, the Angel's other arm shot out, striking the EVA dead in the chest. The harpoon cut through armor, flesh, and bone until it found its target, the EVA's source of power. The S2 Organ.  
  
The pain was like nothing Tai had ever felt. It was as if a giant, ironclad hand were squeezing his heart into pulp. Blood and sparks flew out of the gaping hole in Unit 14's chest as the horrible sound of the Evangelion powering down rang out across the battleground.  
  
"No God damn it!" Tai screamed at his opponent. "If I'm going down I'm taking you with me, you BASTARD!"  
  
With the last ounce of strength left in Unit 14, Tai brought his sword up between the Angel's legs. As the Evangelion began to crumple, the blade continued to arc upward on pure inertia, slicing the Angel, and its Core, neatly in half. The Angel remained intact for a moment, then the two halves lost their balance and fell away from each other. Before either half could hit the ground, the two sections of the core exploded. The blast crater was filled with a hellish explosion for the second time that day. As the sun dipped fully below the horizon, Unit 14 slumped over, silent.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tai sat by Michiru once again, cradling her cool, motionless hand against his cheek.  
  
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I tried. But there was no body left. I failed you."  
  
"You're being to hard on yourself." Tai turned to see Major Suzahara standing in the doorway.  
  
"Major." He greeted the older man. "I don't believe I am. I went out there to kill the Angel so we could study it. Instead I got Unit 14 killed, maybe permanently, and I have *nothing* to show for it."  
  
"Fine, except we both know that's not why you went to kill the Angel." Toji said.  
  
"But..."  
  
"There wasn't a cure in that Angel anyway." He said. "That was just wishful thinking. You went out there to kill it for revenge, because it hurt Michiru."  
  
Reluctantly, Tai nodded. "That's right...I just wanted it dead."  
  
Toji nodded and sat down next to Tai. "You love her, don't you?"  
  
Tai nodded, this time with no reluctance.  
  
"It's hard, I know." Toji said. "When someone you love so much is sick...and you realize...that you can't do anything for them. No matter how much you love them it won't make them well again. It's a horrible feeling."  
  
"How do you deal with it?"  
  
"When I figure that one out," Toji said, "You'll be the first to know."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This is not good." Kensuke said, peering into the hole in Unit 14's chest. "The S2 Organ is gone. It's just been completely destroyed."  
  
"Can it be replaced?" Misato asked.  
  
"This isn't like an arm or a leg's been cut off, Commander." Kensuke said. "The very heart of the EVA has been destroyed. Tai's lucky to be alive right now."  
  
"Yes or no?"  
  
"Maybe." He said. "But it will take at least a month to grow a new one, and another two months to get it up and running."  
  
"Then Unit 14 will have to run on external power until then."  
  
"Do you think those cables will even hold a current any more?" Kensuke asked.  
  
"We'd better hope so." Misato said, turning to Maya. "How is Tai?"  
  
"He wasn't injured." Maya said. "Although I'm sure it hurt more than he's letting on. He seems more concerned about Michiru than anything else." Maya seemed distracted; she kept staring at Unit 14's wound, which still dripped blood.  
  
"Kensuke." She said. "How did you get the infection out of the EVAs?"  
  
"Uh...we didn't." Kensuke said. "It went away on its own."  
  
"They healed themselves?" Maya asked, still focusing on the bloody wound.  
  
"Well yeah." Kensuke replied. "I mean, they have a stronger immune systems, right?"  
  
"Wrong." Maya shook her head. "Except for a few cosmetic differences, and of course the size discrepancy, the EVAs are basically human. They have the same immune systems we do."  
  
"But their immune systems were able to destroy the virus." Misato said.  
  
Maya turned to Misato, suddenly very excited. "Commander, I think we just found the answer!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You want to inject them with blood from the EVAs?" Toji asked.  
  
Maya nodded, holding up two pints of blood. "If I'm right, it should allow their immune systems to attack the Angel."  
  
"And if you're wrong it could kill them!"  
  
"If I'm wrong, they're dead anyway." Maya insisted. "Look, all living cells generate an AT Field. But in humans the field is very weak, it's just barely strong enough to hold our bodies together. The EVAs have a much stronger field *in every cell*."  
  
"I get it!" Tai said. "The EVA's blood cells will neutralize the AT Fields being generated by the Angel!"  
  
"And then their own immune systems can destroy the Virus, especially if we give them Immuno-enhancers along with the blood." Maya finished, nodding.  
  
"You're forgetting one thing." Toji said. "What if they reject the blood."  
  
"EVAs have no blood type." Maya said. "The chances of rejection are about the same as with synth-blood, nonexistent."  
  
"What did the Magi say?" Toji asked.  
  
"Fifty-fifty." Maya said.  
  
"You've gotta be kidding me! You're going to risk two lives on a fifty-fifty chance? That's a goddamn coin toss!"  
  
"Well everything else was between zero and .01." Maya said. "Take your pick."  
  
Toji cast a glance at Machiko. Her blood had become so thin in the last hour that she could no longer breath on her own. A plastic tube snaked out of the wall and down her throat, pumping pure oxygen into her lungs. Maya was right. If something wasn't done soon, Machiko would die.  
  
"Do it." He said.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru awoke slowly. She felt too weak to even open her eyes. Finally, she managed to lift one eyelid. Tai was sitting by her bed, holding her hand gently.  
  
"Hey." He whispered.  
  
Michiru sat straight up. "The Angel!"  
  
"It's okay." Tai assured her. "It's dead."  
  
Michiru nodded, falling back down on the bed quickly. Her sudden motion had sapped what little strength she had.  
  
"Michiru!" Machiko walked somewhat unsteadily into Michiru's room. She was dressed in a hospital gown and had an IV unit full of some clear liquid strapped to her left arm.  
  
"Hey, kiddo." Michiru greeted her. "What happened to you?"  
  
"Same thing that happened to you." Machiko said.  
  
"Which naturally begs the question; what happened to me?"  
  
"Just an Angel acting like a virus." Tai said, smiling. "Nothing we couldn't take care of."  
  
"Glad to hear it." Michiru replied. "I'm guessing you took care of the big Angel too."  
  
"Of course. I mean there were a few...minor difficulties but I got rid of it."  
  
"Then I guess I owe you one." Michiru said, sitting up slowly and leaning her forehead against Tai's.  
  
"Aw jeez, welcome to the PDA wing." Machiko muttered, rolling her eyes as she headed for the door.  
  
Tai, meanwhile, hugged Michiru tight and kissed her gently on the forehead.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I just...I didn't want to say anything in front of Machiko, but...It wasn't so simple. For a while...we didn't know if you were going to make it." Tai said. He kissed her again. "This time I almost lost you."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"That didn't go exactly the way we hoped, did it?" Raina said. "All that and none of them died. Not even that scrawny little Suzahara brat. I could have sworn she was done for."  
  
"It hardly matters." Keele replied with a shrug. "There are two possible ends now. Either they will come up against an Angel they can't beat, or they will be destroyed from within."  
  
"You're sure they won't find out the truth before it's too late?"  
  
"The truth is beyond their ability to even guess at. I'm sure Katsuragi suspects something *close* to the truth. But right now she needs all the EVA pilots she can get her hands on. She's not about get rid of one without actual evidence."  
  
Raina laughed quietly.  
  
"Something amuses you?"  
  
"I was just thinking about the Sixth Child."  
  
"Ah yes." Keele said. "She is the 'X' factor in this whole setup. She *could* tip the scales away from our favor. It would have been so much easier if we could have just killed her."  
  
"Oh not at all." Raina said. "I think this way will be much more fun."  
  
"You certainly have a mean streak, Raina."  
  
"It has served me well." She smiled. "I just wish I could see the look on that little tramp's face...when she realizes what she's been sleeping with."  
  
* * * * *  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
* * * * * 


	11. Acts of ManActs of God

*   *   *   *   *

Legal Stuff: Don't own EVA. Just playing around

*   *   *   *   *

Author's Note: This is your official Mana alert. Just thought I'd give a heads-up.

*   *   *   *   *

And another one: For those of you who have been asking (you know who you are) the NC-17 scene was taken off FFN when they removed NC-17's. To my knowledge, Kristen has not posted it anywhere else, so as far as I know, this 'lost chapter' is once again lost, never to be found again.

*   *   *   *   *

One more: Yep, it's late. Can't help it if the inspiration sometimes runs dry.

*   *   *   *   *

Last one: 11,000 Yen is a little less than 100 US Dollars

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

      Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.

-Revelation 15:1

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA

Chapter 0:11- Acts of Man/Acts of God

*   *   *   *   *

      Harmonics tests were the worst. Any other type of training or evaluation was preferable to the dreaded sync-ratio evaluation. Three hours sitting motionless in the Test Plug; what a waste. And you weren't even supposed to talk unless it was absolutely necessary!

      Machiko sighed, leaning back in her padded seat. At least this test was almost done. Then, after Dr. Ibuki stuck a few needles in her, she could go home and get started on all the schoolwork she had missed as a result of her 'illness'. As far as school officials knew, Machiko had spent the last week at home recovering from a nasty case of the flu. In fact, she had been at NERV HQ under observation, just in case the viral Angel wasn't as dead as it appeared to be. Now that they were sure the danger was over, she got to go back to school. Yippee.

      School just wasn't the same since she became an EVA pilot. For one thing, she had been forced to give up soccer, causing almost all of her friends to suddenly decide they had better things to do than talk to a quitter like her. The rest of her class seemed a little more distant as well. Her position as an EVA pilot was classified, top secret information. So of course her entire class knew about it, and very few of them seemed happy. 

      She didn't expect to become the most popular girl in school just because she piloted Unit 15. But they could at least stop treating her like some kind of leper! Even Yohko, her best friend, had been avoiding her ever since she quit the team. Of course, that was probably just so the rest of the class wouldn't turn on Yohko for being to friendly with her. Machiko understood that, in principle anyway. That didn't make it hurt any less.

*   *   *   *   *

      "Your score was a little low today, Machiko." Dr. Ibuki said, drawing a blood sample from Machiko's arm. "Is anything wrong?"

      "No." Machiko said quickly. "Why do you ask?"

      "It's my job." Maya replied. "When Commander Katsuragi gets back from her meeting, I'll have to give her the report saying your Synch Ratio took a dip. I'd like to be able to give her a reason to go with it, that's all."

      "It's nothing really." Machiko said. "I'm just...dreading all this makeup work."

      "You sure you're not feeling..."

      "No!" Machiko cut her off. "I'm fine. No little Angels in this girl's blood; cross my heart."

      "Well, the blood test seems to agree with you." Dr. Ibuki said. "Can't be too careful though. Be sure to drink..."

      "...drink lots of fluids, get lots of Iron and Vitamin C, and take those Antibiotics you gave me with every meal." Machiko finished, doing her best to smile. "I promise."

*   *   *   *   *

      "...the original design for the Judges is taken from the earlier Triton battle systems from 2015. The name of the prototype, Jacob, comes from the biblical figure who fought an Angel upon the stairway to Heaven. The Jacob unit incorporates all the latest advancements in long range weaponry, including vulcan cannons, laser guided LAW rockets, and a magneto-accelerant rail gun capable of firing a 50 centimeter tungsten slug at over five-hundred miles per second. The unit runs off of power from the old Evangelion umbilical cable network, which our friends at NERV have so graciously allowed us to make use of. In an emergency, Jacob's Non-Nuclear power plant can sustain optimal battle performance for up to eight minutes."

      Misato yawned as the corporate spokesman droned on about his company's great achievement. She had heard it all before, countless times. None of those had panned out - in fact, only one had even made it off the drawing board, with near disastrous results - and she doubted this one would fare any better. In all likelihood, these 'Judges' would fail just like their predecessors. Still, the prototype had been completed; that was farther than most ever got. They deserved a chance to make it work.

      "Are there any questions?"

      Out of the corner of her eye, Misato saw Kensuke's hand shoot up before the man had even finished asking if there were questions.

      "Yes." The speaker pointed.

      "What capabilities do the Judges have for battle at close range?" Kensuke asked.

      The spokesman smirked at him. "We do things slightly different from NERV, Captain Aida. We don't plan on forcing our pilots to grapple with the Angels hand-to-hand." A smattering of derisive laughter floated up from the other tables. "The Judges were created to fight the Angels from a safe distance without exposing the pilot to undue danger."

      "And how do you plan on dealing with the AT Field?" Kensuke pressed on. "The only weapon that ever successfully penetrated an AT Field from a distance was drawing all the power in Japan for a single shot. Even your rail gun can't generate that kind of kinetic force."

      "I'll hand that question over to our head of development." The suit said. "Dr. Mana Kirishima."

      "Mana?" Misato looked up. She hadn't recognized the red-haired woman sitting at the VIP table.

      Mana stood up. "The Judges are capable of generating an electro-magnetic pulse that can theoretically destabilize an Angel's AT Field." She said plainly, sitting back down.

      "Theoretically?" Kensuke said. "Then you don't know for sure."

      "Dr. Kirishima is simply being modest I assure you." The spokesman continued. "We are quite confident that..."

      "Yes." Mana cut him off. "The system is untested. It might work, it might not. But anything's better than putting teenagers into cyborg monsters that are just barely under their control and sending them out to fight."

      "Incidentally, all of the future pilots for the Judges are volunteers drawn from Japanese Self Defense Force." The corporate spokesman piped in.

      "That's not quite accurate." Misato said ignoring the suit and looking straight at Mana.

      "You're right of course, Commander Katsuragi. I left out a few details." Mana said. "I forgot to mention, for example, that NERV isn't so much a UN Agency as a private army that answers only to itself, that you routinely bankrupt small nations to keep those monstrosities of yours maintained, and that you have absolutely no concern for the welfare of your own pilots."

      "A convenient oversimplification in the first two cases and an outright lie in the third." Misato snapped, she had been glad to see Mana again after all these years, but the younger woman's ranting was starting to get old.

      "You deny that NERV uses any means necessary to achieve its goals, no matter who or what gets hurt or destroyed in the process?"

      "Well we exist to fight the Angels, the greatest threat mankind has ever known." Misato said. "'Any means necessary' is part of the job description."

      "So the ends justify the means?" Mana asked.

      "In this case, yes."

      "Even if 'the means' is sacrificing the lives of your pilots?"

      "I think we're getting off the topic of..." The spokesman tried to break off the escalating verbal war.

      "No, please, I'd like to hear the Commander's answer." Mana insisted. "The original Evangelion pilots from 2015 all died under mysterious circumstances. And now, lo and behold, three new ones emerge. How long until these three are used up and you need to find a new batch of children to torture?"

      Misato wanted to say something in her defense, but she suddenly seemed unable to speak. She sat back down, staring into Mana's anger-filled eyes, and half-listened as the company spokesman droned on about the Judges' scanning capabilities.

*   *   *   *   *

      School was just the way Machiko remembered it. The desks, the chairs, the teachers...and the whispered rumors that followed her wherever she went. It was almost interesting to hear what everyone thought had happened to her. Apparently a large number of her classmates had been under the impression that she had died fighting the latest Angel. Other rumors included top-secret missions in distant countries, the usual expulsion for lack of attendance, and even - in a small group of girls she overheard gossiping in the locker room - pregnancy. Most of the rumors were ridiculous, but since Machiko wasn't allowed to tell them where she had actually been or what she had been doing, no one bothered to ask her to confirm or deny any of it.

      Perhaps the most hurtful of the suspicions was the most prevalent; that she considered herself above going to school now that she was with NERV. Worst of all, that particular rumor was being spread by someone Machiko had once thought of as her friend. Ever since Machiko had quit soccer, Nana treated her like something not even worth acknowledging, except for talking about her behind her back.

      It happened in the bathroom at lunchtime. Machiko had gone into the second floor bathroom, hoping to find it empty. Blissfully, it was in exactly that state, allowing her to take the half dozen anti-biotics and immuno-enhancers Dr. Ibuki had prescribed for her in privacy. The last thing she needed was for the whole school to see her popping massive amounts of pills. She was just washing down the last of the huge tablets, repressing the urge to gag, when she heard the bathroom's outer door open. Not wanting any kind of confrontation, Machiko dumped her pill bottles into her bag and ducked into the farthest stall just as the inner door swung open.

      "...I mean, you and Machiko used to be friends, right?" Machiko was upset to hear Yohko, her best friend and the only one who hadn't turned on her yet talking about her behind her back.

      "Sure," Nanami's voice replied. "Before she elected herself Queen of the Universe."

      "That's not..." Yohko began.

      "Please. You know it's true." Machiko didn't recognize the third girl's voice but she seemed to be on Nanami's side. "Suzahara hasn't been the same since she joined NERV."

      "Would you be?" Yohko asked. "She had to quit everything she liked doing so she could risk her life every few days. What do you expect?"

      "Yeah, and now she thinks she's better than everyone else," Nanami said. "She won't even eat lunch with the rest of us any more."

      "I heard she's not even a full pilot," the other girl said, "Just a trainee."

      "Figures," Nanami said, "No wonder she's so secretive. Doesn't want to mess up her new fame."

      "That's not true," Yohko said.

      "Then why hasn't she bothered to mention that she'll be out of a job soon?"

      "What do you mean?"

      Nanami's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "Well, you know my brother Aki?"

      "Yeah," Nanami's friend said.

      "Well, he's a fighter pilot in the Defense Force, and he said NERV won't be running the show against those Angel things for much longer."

      "Why?" Yohko asked.

      "He couldn't say much," Nanami replied, "Just that he volunteered for a special project and when it's done, the Evangelions will be obsolete."  
  


*   *   *   *   *

      "That cord is going to be really annoying." Tai said, pointing to the umbilical cable that now provided his Evangelion with power. In their first practice engagement since battling the 24th Angel, he had tripped over the cable twice, giving Michiru two easy victories.

      "It's just until we can get a new S2 organ for Unit 14." Kensuke said. "Until then we'll just have to hope for the best. And you'll have to learn the locations of the recharge stations."

      "If we're lucky maybe they'll get the new one installed before the next Angel comes." Michiru said hopefully.

      "Since when have we been that lucky?" Tai replied.

      "It could be worse." Maya reminded him. "We're lucky Unit 14 is alive at all."

      Tai nodded silently. She didn't need to add that he was equally lucky to be alive. The shock of losing the S2 organ while synchronized was more than enough to kill a pilot. He should have died. Just like when he had been electrocuted. One brush with mortality could be luck or a miracle. But twice? Twice he had stared death in the face; and twice, death had turned its back on him. A guy couldn't help but wonder why.

*   *   *   *   *

      "You all did well today." Misato said. "Tai, you need to get used to that cable. Michiru, Machiko; get used to it too. You all function as a team, so learn to work around your teammate's handicap."

      The three pilots nodded. They had already discussed the 'umbilical cable situation' in private and come up with several plans to work around the problem. 

      "We have a few plans." Michiru spoke for the group. "But we can't really test them in the sims."

      "Why is that?" Misato asked.

      "Well we've been simming against each other, so we can't see how an enemy with no knowledge of our strategies would react." Michiru said.

      "And a two-year-old could beat those AI Angels." Machiko added.

      "They're not smart enough to provide an accurate test." Michiru reiterated.

      "So you won't know if these strategies of yours work until you're actually in the thick of it?" Misato asked.

      Michiru nodded. "Looks that way."

      "Fine." Misato nodded. "I guess that'll have to do. Meanwhile, we have an assignment the day after tomorrow."

      "An assignment?" Michiru asked.

      Misato nodded. The briefing room's screen lit up with a still photo of an immense white machine. It consisted of two massive legs supporting a Plexiglas cockpit. Two more appendages, arms of a sort, jutted out from the sides of the cockpit. One arm ended in what looked like a huge gattling gun, the other in some other kind of gun that Michiru couldn't readily identify. Racks of missiles hung all over the mech like ornaments on a Christmas Tree. Judging by the building next to it, the machine had to be at least as tall as Unit 01. But whereas one look at the Evangelion was enough to see how fast and agile it was, Michiru couldn't figure out how something as bulky as this new machine was even supposed to walk around, let alone fight.

      "This is Jacob, the prototype unit of what it's creators, an American firm called Evans Industries, are calling 'Judges'."

      "Jacob wasn't a Judge. He was a Patriarch," Tai said. He seemed to realize that everyone in the room was staring at him. "...Which wasn't the point was it?"

      "Inaccurate name or not, if this unit proves successful, it could replace the EVAs."

      "Good for them," Michiru said.

      "Don't get your hopes up," Misato told her. "I think the techs at Evans have drastically underestimated the Angels. In any case you three are to report here promptly at eight A.M. Friday morning. You will run a series of mock battles with Jacob in District Three. Your regular weapons will be replaced with paint guns."

      "Isn't District Three the middle of Downtown?" Tai asked.

      "The Judges run off the same umbilical cables as the EVAs so the test has to take place here," Misato said. "The city will be converted to battle mode for the duration of the test. Anything else?"

      Machiko raised her hand nervously. "Who's going to be piloting the...thing?" She asked.

      "A Defense Force volunteer, I think," Misato looked through a thin file folder. "Yeah, a Lieutenant Aki Haruna."

      "I was afraid of that," Machiko said quietly.

      "One final thing," Misato said. "There is a reception being held tomorrow night to celebrate the unit's completion. A reception to which we have _graciously been invited. Seven o'clock, at the Hilton, wear your dress uniforms. As for Friday, don't you dare pull a single punch. This thing may be safer than an EVA but that won't help anyone if it can't beat the Angels. Give it everything you've got."_

*   *   *   *   *

      "What was that all about?" Michiru asked Machiko after they had changed out of their plug suits.

      "The pilot, the guy who's piloting that Jacob thing, I know his sister. Nanami," the younger girl replied.

      "A friend of yours?"

      "She used to be," Machiko said.

      "What happened?"

      "Apparently I'm better than everyone else."

      "Since when?" Michiru asked playfully.

      "Well everyone thinks that's what I think. Ever since I became a pilot," Machiko said, "Especially Nanami. We have to do better than this thing, we have to beat it!"

      Michiru smiled. "Please, the three of us have killed Angels together. You think this Gunbuster reject can beat us?"

      "I'm serious. If we don't win, I'll never be able to show my face in school again!"

*   *   *   *   *

      Machiko wasn't entirely sure what she expected the reception to be like, but she had guessed right in assuming it would be boring. For one thing, she was the youngest person there. In a sea of black, green, and khaki, her gray Cadet uniform stuck out like a sore thumb. And yet she still felt that everyone was ignoring her. At least the food was good, but she couldn't work up much of an appetite. The battle tomorrow loomed in her mind, blocking out everything else.

      "I thought I'd never be anywhere as boring as the winter formal at the orphan's home," Michiru said, sitting down across from her. "When will I learn to stop thinking things I know will be proven wrong?"

      "Well the drinks are free," Tai said, sliding into the seat next to Michiru.

      "Doesn't help those of us who can't drink," Machiko said dejectedly.

      Michiru smiled. "Hang in there, kid. It's only a few more hours."

      "I could have been doing homework tonight," Machiko sighed. "I can't believe _that's my better evening." She slouched dramatically in her chair. "My life has officially reached rock bottom."_

      "Don't say that," Tai said, "Never invite things to get worse."

      "Good point," Machiko groaned.

      "So you guys are the Evangelion pilots," Machiko turned to see a tall, handsome man in a Defense Force uniform standing behind her. "Not exactly what I expected. I mean, you girls don't even look like you're out of High School yet."

      "And you are?" Michiru asked. Machiko smiled inwardly. She could tell Michiru was annoyed already, which did not bode well for the rude guy.

      "Lieutenant Haruna," the soldier offered his hand. After a moment he withdrew it. "I'll be piloting Jacob tomorrow."

      "Lucky you," Tai said, "It looks like a fine piece of equipment."

      "Is that sarcasm I detect mister...?"

      "Matsumoto. _Private. And yes, just a little."_

      "You've seen the specs on Jacob?" Haruna asked.

      Tai shrugged. "I think I saw it in a manga once. Not sure how much good it'll do you out in the field."

      The Lieutenant smirked tightly. "And you think your EVAs will do any better?"

      "We're gonna wipe the floor with you," Machiko said.

      Haruna seemed to notice Machiko for the first time. "You're kidding right?" He said, "I'd heard one of the pilots was young but..."

      "You got a problem with Pilot Suzahara?" Michiru asked, daring him to confirm it.

      "What kind of people do you have in charge at NERV? You can't send a little girl out to fight."

      "This 'little girl' has killed more Angels than you've even laid eyes on," Tai said.

      "I wouldn't be surprised if she's the one who takes you out tomorrow," Michiru added. "She's sneaky."

      "You three seem pretty sure of yourselves," Haruna said.

      "Comes with the territory," Tai replied, "And this _is our territory."_

      "Maybe for now, but tomorrow morning that'll change."

      "Not a chance," Machiko said defiantly.

      "Gotta agree with the lady," Tai said.

      "Feel like putting your money where your mouth is?"

      "A bet?" Tai asked, "It's going to be three against one. Not quite fair for you."

      "No, this is just on what goes on between you and me," Haruna said. "I'm just talking about a small wager. If you manage to beat me, I'll pay you. But if I take you out first, you owe me."

      "How much?"

      "Eleven-thousand yen."

      Tai thought for a moment. "Mind if I talk to my associates?" He leaned in to Michiru and Machiko. "What do you think?"

      "I think you're both suffering from testosterone poisoning," Michiru said.

      "I don't know about this, Tai," Machiko added.

      "Tell you what, if I win the money, we'll all go out to dinner on it to celebrate."

      "And if you lose?"

      "We'll go out to a much cheaper dinner to commiserate."

      Michiru shook her head, smiling. "Go ahead. Just make sure you kick his ass."

      "Done and done." Tai sat up, smiling at the lieutenant. "You're on."  
  


*   *   *   *   *

      Michiru was headed outside for some fresh air when she heard Misato's voice, raised in irritation verging on anger, coming from the hotel bar. Curious, Michiru altered course and stepped into the dim room. Misato was seated at the far end of the bar, a half drunk beer in front of her. On the stool next to her sat a small, red-haired woman in her late thirties, sipping some kind of umbrella bearing girly drink. Michiru recognized her as Dr. Kirishima, the engineer who had designed the Judges.

      "I just want to know why you're doing this," Misato said.

      "It's my job," the younger woman replied calmly. "I'm an engineer."

      "You know what I mean, Mana," Misato said. "I don't have a problem with trying to replace the EVAs, personally I hope it works. I want to know where all this hostility is coming from?"

      "Oh you don't?" for the first time, Mana seemed to get angry. "I guess you've just...forgotten everything that happened twenty-five years ago."

      "Is that what this is about?" Misato asked, "Well, I'm sorry, all right? I'm sorry you were in that situation. And I'm sorry I couldn't do more. If I'd been in charge of NERV then, I never would have sent you back."

      "I'd love to believe that," Mana said. "But then I take a look at your roster and see that you've forced Shinji's daughter to fight for you, just like you forced him. You NERV people never change, you just use whoever you need to fight your war for you. What gives you the right to..."

      "Hold on one damn minute!" Misato cut her off. "Now I've been putting up with a lot from you because I was glad to see you again, but I will not put up with _that! You have no idea how much Shinji meant to me _or_ how much Michiru means to me! And as for your feelings toward NERV, I know where they come from. Look, I'm sorry you and Shinji couldn't be together, but that is __not my fault!"_

      "That's not how I see it."

      "Well that's your problem. Besides, after the Angels were gone you could have come back at any time, but you never did. So whatever personal regrets you have, don't try to stick them on me and NERV."

      Michiru didn't wait to hear more. She stormed back to the ballroom and located Major Suzahara sitting with Captain Aida and Corporal Tanaka.

      "Who's Mana Kirishima?" She asked.

      "Michiru?" Toji looked up, startled, "What was that?"

      "Who is Doctor Kirishima, and what happened between her and my father twenty-five years ago?"

      "How did you find out about that?" Kensuke asked.

      "Not the point," Michiru said, "I just want to know."

      "Well it's not like it's a big state secret," Toji said with a shrug. "They went out a few times in junior high."

      "That's it?" Michiru asked. "But she said...I mean, from what I heard...around...it sounded like they had some kind of torrid affair or something."

      "Torrid affair? Shinji?" Toji began to laugh, but stifled it quickly. "No it was nothing like that."

      "But she had to go into hiding or something..."

      "Where did you hear all this?" Toji asked.

      Michiru sighed. "I overheard her talking to Misato."

      "Ah," Kensuke smiled, "Listen, it's not even a thing. ...well actually it _was a bit of an adventure but..."_

      "What?" Michiru said, "What happened?"

      "Well this was back when Shinji and your mother were still pilots. There were people trying to replace the EVAs back then too. Mana was a test pilot for one of them, but the people who built it...well they treated their pilots badly. She escaped and hid out in our school and she and your father were a bit of an item."

      "But it barely lasted a week before her bosses found her," Toji added. "And since NERV wouldn't give her asylum, she had to leave the country until the war was over. We never saw her again, and of course, Shinji ended up with Asuka. That answer your questions?"

      "Yeah," Michiru sighed.

      "What's wrong?" Kensuke asked.

      "I...I guess I just had Mom and Dad up on this pedestal. You know, some kind of pure love at first sight."

      "Not exactly," Toji said. "It took them a while."

*   *   *   *   *

      That night, Michiru lay awake. Her mind was too full to allow sleep. Anxiety about the coming battle bumped up against thoughts of Dr. Kirishima and her father. This was the problem with never getting to know your parents. They weren't people to her, just pictures, videos, and stories from others. Every time something new came up she had to revise what she thought she knew about them.

      As for the mock battle tomorrow, she couldn't quite figure out what the problem was. It wasn't that she was afraid of losing. With three EVAs against one Judge, the odds were more than slightly in their favor, no matter how well the new machine performed. Maybe _that_ was the problem. Did she want to lose? To pass this war off to someone who actually had a choice in the matter? To be free of the EVA forever? That was what she had told Tai, wasn't it? So then why did she feel this way?

      _Because if you stop fighting in Unit 01, you'll lose them forever._

      No! She fought against the thought. She didn't need that damned machine to feel close to her parents. 

      Did she?

*   *   *   *   *

      "I've got the test results, Doctor," one of Maya's aides held up a thick file folder.

      "Just leave them on the desk, Haruka." Maya said, not looking up from her computer.

      An hour later, after finishing her analysis and report on the viral Angel, Maya turned to the stack of blood test results. She had run the blood samples from all the base personnel through rigorous tests to make sure no trace of the Angel remained anywhere. It was also an opportunity to run a random drug test.

      Maya flipped through the stack. She found nothing exceptional until she reached the 'T's. She might have missed it, if she hadn't trained herself long ago to notice tiny details. There it was, in the file marked 'Tanaka, Minako', the one result she had never expected to see. She check twice, called up the test data on her computer. It was true...

            Blood Test: Tanaka, Minako

            Illegal Drugs: NEGATIVE

            Blood borne Pathogens: NEGATIVE

            Red Cell Count: NORMAL

            White Cell Count: NORMAL

            Hormones: ABNORMAL*

            *Elevated hCG levels consistent with first-trimester               pregnancy*

      "Oh no..."

*   *   *   *   * 

      The city was already in battle mode when the pilots assembled in the observation area. Michiru, Tai, and Machiko wore their plug suits. Lieutenant Haruna wore a complicated variant on a green military jumpsuit, covered with cords, armored plates, and electric sockets. When everyone was there, the Evans Industries spokesman stood up.

      "Welcome to the first field test of the prototype Judge unit, Jacob. Piloting Jacob in today's test will be Lieutenant Aki Haruna," Haruna saluted his superiors and nodded at the crowd.

      "Piloting the Evangelion units in this test, from NERV, Privates Michiru Ikari and Tai Matsumoto, and Cadet Machiko Suzahara." Tai and Michiru nodded, Machiko waved at the observers. Michiru couldn't help but notice that the people clapped a lot less for them than for Haruna.

      "The first test will be a battle between the Evangelions and Jacob. The EVAs will attack while we test the At-Field dampener. Use whatever means necessary to attack your target. We will be monitoring from here and will deactivate any unit that sustains sufficient damage. Understood?"

      The four pilots nodded.

      "Good," he said. "Then get to your units, and good luck to you all."

      Misato pulled the three of them aside as Lieutenant Haruna headed the opposite way.

      "I don't have to tell you again to give it everything you've got," she said.

      "But you're going to anyway," Michiru laughed.

      "Yeah, I am," Misato said. "If these Judge things are going to replace the EVAs I have to know that we're leaving this place in good hands. Just for my own piece of mind."

      "We'll take care of it," Tai said.

      "Glad to hear it," Misato said. "Now get down to the cages, we launch in five."

*   *   *   *   *

      Clouds had rolled in from the pacific in the night. By the time the EVAs reached ground level, the clouds had opened up, spilling icy sheets of rain over the battle ground. 

      The Jacob unit was already there, the rain pelting off its deep blue armor. It took four wiper blades to wipe off the huge windshield, through which Michiru could see Haruna, strapped into a padded seat behind a giant set of controls that seemed to reach all the way around him. Michiru was suddenly very glad for the simple controls of the Evangelion. A thick cable snaked out from the mech's back into a nearby decoy building. A similar cable trailed from another building into Unit 14.

      **BEGIN** A voice rang out over the city.

      To his credit, Haruna moved fast. His gun was up and aimed at Unit 14 before the voice had even faded. Almost a hundred paint pellets flew from his guns. They all spattered on Unit 14's AT Field and rained down on the ground. By then, the EVAs had taken cover behind the decoy buildings.

      Making sure her AT Field was up, Michiru darted around the side of her building and fired a volley at the Judge. As she watch, amazed, the giant machine dodged. A set of rockets set in its shins fired, propelling it up and sideways. It landed with a crash as Michiru's paintballs flew past it. Haruna turned on her and aimed his rocket launcher. Michiru stood firm, content that her AT Field would protect her. But instead of firing, a high-pitched whine arose from the Judge.

      "Your AT Fields are dropping!" Minako shouted over the radio, "Michiru, take cover!"

      Before she could, a giant sphere shot out of the rocket launcher and slammed into her. Unit 01's armor blocked all but the pressure of the impact, but she was sure the hit would put her out of the fight. If the light over her head changed from green to red, it would mean Unit 01 was deactivated. A second went by. Two. The light stayed green. She was still in.

*   *   *   *   *

      When Haruna fired his 'rocket' at Michiru, Tai ducked around his own building and fired. The shot should have hit, but something got in the way. He couldn't be sure, but it looked as though the paint had hit an AT Field.

      "Major! Scan for Angels!"

      "What?" Toji asked.

      "There's an AT Field out here!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "Scan the area," Toji said.

      "We can't!" Kaori replied. "That dampener is interfering with our sensors."

      Toji picked up the red phone next to him. It dialed automatically, putting him through to the opposing control room. Commander Fudoh, the UN officer in charge of the Judge project, answered.

      "Commander," Toji said before the other man could begin talking, "Tell your pilot to turn off the dampening field."

      "Suzahara?" the other man asked, "You're joking right?"

      "One of our pilots saw something out there, but our sensors can't get a reading with the field up. Tell him to shut it down!"

      "Nice try, Major," the commander said, "If your pilots can't win on their own merits..."

      Toji suddenly became very still. He spoke into the phone in a deadly, calm voice. "Commander right now my ordinance techs are sending real guns with live ammunition to my pilots. If that field is not down by the time the weapons arrive I will order my pilots to use them to blow up your little toy. Am I making myself clear?"

      "You're out of line, Major..."

      "Wrong, sir. I'm head of tactical operations for NERV. In this city, in a battle situation, I'm God. Now drop that field."

*   *   *   *   *

      "See it?" Tai asked.

      "Just a haze," Michiru said, "Tai are you sure, it could be the rain..."

      "It's an AT Field," Tai insisted. "There's an Angel out there."

      "If it's an Angel, why isn't it attacking?" Machiko asked.

      "I think it's investigating Haruna's mech," Tai said.

      "They're going to drop the dampening field," Major Suzahara said over the comm. system. "We're sending your real weapons, as soon as we get sensor data we'll tell you how to proceed."

*   *   *   *   *

      "There goes the field. Tanaka, scan now!"

      Kaori hit the keys as fast as she could. An instant later a patch of blue appeared, covering almost the entire battlefield. As soon as the field was completely gone, it shrank down to a single, normal-sized dot.

      "Pattern Blue!" Minako yelled. "It's an Angel!"

      "Attack!" Toji ordered the pilots, "Destroy it now!"

*   *   *   *   *

      The high-pitched whine died as quickly as it had begun. In the same instant, the Angel appeared. It had to be the strangest one yet. All of the other Angels had at least had some identifiable physical form, even the virus. This Angel didn't even look like it had a physical form. It was a giant, undulating ribbon of brilliant yellow light, hanging in the air between them and the Judge.

      "Attack!" Toji's voice rang out, "Destroy it now!"

      Huge panels on the buildings they were using for cover had slid open, revealing an assortment of weapons. Michiru took her rocket launcher while Machiko selected the standard rifle. Predictably, Tai grabbed the twin-bladed sword.

      Tai was the first to attack. Lifting his sword, cursing as he kicked Unit 14's power cable out of the way, he ducked around the building and charged the Angel. The bottom edge of the energy ribbon snapped up as Tai brought the sword down. Arcs of electricity flew as the blade smashed into, and then skidded off of, the Angel. Tai's return stroke was similarly parried.

      The Angel was insanely quick. Before Tai could make another attack, he was forced into the defensive position. The Angel lashed out one end of itself. The edge of the beam, somewhere between whip and sword, lashed at Unit 14 repeatedly and it was all Tai could do to keep his balance and block each incoming strike. When one managed to get through, the edge of the Angel turned out to be razor sharp. Tai gasped in pain as the white-hot beam sliced clean through his armor and took a chunk out of Unit 14's thigh. The black EVA went down on one knee, still managing to fend off most of the Angel's attacks, but this weakened position left holes in Tai's defense. In seconds, three more gashes had opened in the Evangelion's armor, through which bright crimson blood poured freely. Weakened from blood loss, Tai couldn't block the strike that sliced open Unit 14's back, severing his power cable. With a low-pitched whine, the EVA deactivated, falling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

      The instant Unit 14 fell, Michiru and Machiko lifted their own weapons to fire a volley at the Angel. Their aim was slightly hampered by the fact that they couldn't risk hitting the (so far immobile) Judge. 

      "Get out of here, Haruna!" Michiru yelled over the communicator, "We'll handle this!"

      Haruna seemed to get the message; the Judge took a step away from the Angel, getting ready to turn around. Instantly, the sharp end that had attacked Tai came up, aimed straight at the hulking mech. Somehow, without quite knowing how, Michiru realized what was about to happen.

      "Disconnect your cable!" She said.

      "What?" Haruna asked in a panicky voice.

      "Just do it!" Michiru screamed.

      The umbilical cable shot off of Jacob's back and crashed to the pavement below. It wasn't a moment too soon, as the Angel dove toward the Judge, disappearing into the heart of the machine.

      "What the hell just happened?" Haruna demanded, his voice laced with even more fear.

      "The Angel is in your robot," Michiru told him. "Eject."

      "I can't!" he replied. "My controls won't respond!"

      Outside, the Judge turned toward the Evangelions, weapons at the ready.

      "It's using the mech to fight us," Michiru realized.

      "Well that's not so bad, right?" Machiko said. "I mean that thing's just loaded with paintballs."

      Machiko fell silent as what looked like a bolt of lightning erupted from Jacob's main gun and sizzled through the air between them. The resulting clap of thunder shook the entire city. Both pilots dove out of the way as another bolt sought them.

      "Now what?" Machiko yelled.

      "You have to destroy that robot!" Misato replied over the communicator.

      "With Nanami's brother inside? We can't!"

      "There has to be another way," Michiru said.

      "Maybe, but we don't have time to think of one," Misato said. "As soon as the Angel decides you aren't a threat it'll use that Judge to break into the Geofront!"

      "Our sensors are reading no AT Field from the Angel any more," Minako told them. "If you destroy the Judge, the Angel should go with it."

      "But we can't..."

      "It's all right," Haruna's voice broke in. "This is the only way."

      "But you'll die," Michiru said, as if he didn't know that.

      "I knew that was a risk when I joined up," he said calmly, "Just get it over with, before this thing does something we'll all regret."

      Finally, Michiru nodded. "Machiko, stay here."

      "Michiru, you can't..." Machiko began.

      "I have to," Michiru said, "But I'll be damned if you do, so stay here, got it?"

      Machiko nodded grimly, holding back tears. Unit 01 charged around the building firing rockets at the Judge. None of them made it to the target. All of Jacob's guns exploded with light, blasting a hundred bolts of lightning toward Unit 01. The rockets were incinerated an instant before Unit 01 became enveloped in a cascade of electricity. Machiko heard the very beginning of Michiru's scream of pain before the line went dead.

      Now she couldn't stop the tears, though she managed to keep from actually sobbing. This was supposed to be just a war game, a test. Now Michiru might be dead and any second Misato was going to order her to kill Nanami's big brother. The worst part was imagining how her former friend would see her from now on, how all her classmates would see her. And how she would have to see herself. As a murderer.

      The dreaded moment had arrived. A holographic screen popped up in front of her. She was about to protest the order to kill when she realized that the face in the screen was not Misato, her father, or anyone else from NERV. It was Dr. Kirishima, from Evans Industries.

      "All Evangelion Pilots. Fall back to your extraction points immediately. We have initiated remote detonation of Jacob's power plant. You have two minutes to reach safe distance."

      Two minutes. Suddenly all Machiko could think about was Aki Haruna. Could she sit in her entry plug calmly, knowing that in two minutes she would be dead? He had said he accepted risk when he joined the SDF, but it still had to be hell counting down to your own death.

      Suddenly, Machiko wasn't thinking any more. She didn't have a plan, barely even realized what she was doing until she had stepped out from the cover of the decoy building and put herself face to face with the enemy.

      Jacob was in an odd position, doubled over with its guns pointing at the street. Every few seconds, lightning flashed out of the barrels, melting a bit more of the asphalt beneath it. The Angel trapped in the Judge was trying to burrow down to the Geofront the only way it could.

      "Lieutenant, how tough is your cockpit?" Machiko asked.

      "It can withstand a hundred-thousand P.S.I...in theory," Haruna said.

      "Let's hope they got it right."

      Without another word, cutting off her comm. system so that the outraged queries from NERV and Evans would not distract her, Machiko fired her gun at Jacob. The first bullets that imbedded themselves in the mech's armor got the Angel's attention. Machiko dropped the rifle and leaped over the first blast of lightning. She dodged to the left of the next one and rolled under the third. The blasts were getting faster and more accurate, but it was not for nothing that Unit 15 had been designed with speed and agility in mind. Three more bolts were wasted as the silver Evangelion bobbed and wove its way toward the Angel.

      The timer readout said 1:02. One minute left. Machiko's last jump landed her on Jacob's back, where the guns couldn't reach. She grabbed the exposed cockpit with one hand and yanked.

      The cockpit did not budge.

      Thirty seconds left. She grabbed with both hands this time. Bracing with her legs she put all of Unit 15's strength into pulling the jammed cockpit out. She dimly heard her synch graph spike as the glass and metal box came free. Ten seconds, no time to expand her AT Field. She would have to trust her armor. Hoping that Lieutenant Haruna was well-cushioned, she lifted the small cockpit and threw it with all her might, just as Unit 15 was enveloped in waves of light and fire.

*   *   *   *   *

      "How much damage?" Misato asked.

      "Unit 14 will need a new umbilical socket and it suffered some major lacerations, but nothing that won't heal. Unit 01 was severely burned, but the armor acted as a Faraday cage so Michiru was unharmed. Unit 15 suffered no damage at all. The armor on all three EVAs was melted down to the second layer in the explosion," Kensuke rattled off the report.

      "As always, things could have been worse," Toji said, "A lot worse."

      "How's Haruna?" Kensuke asked.

      "First and second degree burns and a broken collarbone, but he'll live. Thanks to Machiko," Misato said with a smile.

      "Quite a kid you've got there, Major," Kensuke said.

      Toji grinned. "It took you this long to figure that out?"

*   *   *   *   *

      The buildings finished rising just as the sun dipped below the horizon. They sat on the highway guardrail overlooking Tokyo 3, Michiru leaning on Tai's shoulder.

      "Hell of a day, huh?" Tai asked.

      "Sure, unless you're us," Michiru sighed.

      "You sound depressed."

      "A little," Michiru admitted. "I mean, most people can't even imagine stuff like what happened today. And this was a slow day for us! We've had worse!"

      "Well...at least we won," Tai said.

      "Not really. There's always another Angel out there. The next one's probably getting ready to drop by as we speak."

      "Do you wish...I mean, assuming the Angel hadn't shown up, do you wish we had lost."

      "I don't even know," Michiru said, "I know I don't want to do this any more... But I don't want to give it up either. It's all I've known since I got here."

      "It's not all you are, Michiru," Tai said, "If this war ended tomorrow, you'd still be Michiru Ikari. You don't need EVA for that."

      "It's not me, it's my parents. I found something out last night. And it was nothing. I mean, it was a stupid little thing. But it made me realize that I still barely know anything about them. Unit 01 is the only connection to them that I have left. And that part of me doesn't ever want to be replaced, by anyone. But I don't like that me. She's not a good person. Today she nearly killed someone just because she was ordered to."

      "It was the only way..."

      "I don't need justification!" she snapped. "No matter the reason, I was prepared to kill him, and that is _not_ okay!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "You wanted to see me Commander Katsuragi?"

      Misato looked up from her desk. Mana stood in the doorway.

      "Yes, come in Mana. Sit down."

      The younger woman nodded and sat across from Misato.

      "I...heard Evans let you go."

      "That's how they put it too," Mana said. "I call it 'fired'. Apparently they didn't approve of my decision to detonate Jacob. At least I'm not expected to pay for it."

      "I'm sorry," Misato said.

      "It's all right. I'll find another job. My skills are in demand in America. There are at least three other companies looking to produce a battle machine. Of course Evans has probably warned them that I'm reckless and insubordinate by now but..." She smiled. "Well I'm sure something will come up."

      "You already know why I called you here, don't you?" Misato asked.

      "I wouldn't have come if I didn't."

      "Fine," Misato laughed. "You want a job?"

      "What kind of job?" Mana asked.

      "Engineering," Misato said. "Maintaining the EVAs and making them safer for the pilots."

      "Don't you have people who do that?"

      "Technically Captain Aida and Doctor Ibuki are joint heads of that department, but it was never intended to be a full time arrangement. Kensuke is an ordinance specialist and Maya is a medical doctor. What we need is an actual engineer. If you're willing, that is. As a bonus, you can keep an eye on me to make sure I do right by the kids."

      "Me work for NERV..." Mana mused. "I'll have to think about it."

      "Fair enough," Misato said. "The job's available as long as you want it."

      "Okay I'll take it."

      "But...I thought you had to think about it," Misato said.

      "I did."

      "All right. Let's get you down to security."

      Before they reached the elevator, Mana turned to Misato.

      "There's one thing I need to know. It's about Shinji."

      "What is it?" Misato asked.

      "Did it ever get better for him? Did he get to be happy?"

      Misato smiled wistfully. "Yeah," she said. "It took him a while. A long while. But in the end...he was happy."

*   *   *   *   *

      School was the same as always. The whispers were a little quieter perhaps, but it seemed that nothing had changed. Until lunch. Machiko was in the second floor bathroom, taking the last of her antibiotics, when the stall behind her opened.     

      "So this is where you disappear to every day," Nanami said, "What's with all the pills?"

      "One of the Angels got us all sick a while back," Machiko said, trying to sound neither too casual nor too dramatic. "We've all got to take these to make sure we don't get sick again."

      "Does stuff like this happen to you a lot?" Nanami asked.

      Machiko nodded. "It's never the same thing twice. But it's always something."

      "Aki told me what happened, as much as he could anyway. He told me what you did."

      "Oh that? That was just...well I mean, what else could I do?"

      Nanami stared at her feet. She seemed embarrassed, or maybe ashamed. "Thank you," she finally said. "And...I'm sorry...for how I've been lately."

      Machiko smiled. "I just want us to be friends again. I didn't ask to do this, it just happened."

      Nanami nodded and returned her smile. "I'd like that." As they left the bathroom together, Nanami reached into her bag and pulled out a plain white envelope.

      "Aki wanted me to give you this, by the way. Something about a bet. He said you're the one who earned it, whatever that means."

      Machiko took the envelope, peaked inside, and smiled. She didn't need to count the bills to know that she was now eleven hundred yen richer. She couldn't wait to see the look on Tai's face.

      "So...do you...do you like it?" Nanami asked, reluctantly.

      Machiko had to think about that for a moment. Ever since becoming a pilot, her life had consisted mostly of boredom and terror, with very little else. Then again, she got to see things military otaku only dreamed of, hang out with Tai and Michiru, two of the coolest people she knew, and sometimes even save lives.

      "Every once in a while...it doesn't suck."

*   *   *   *   *

To Be Continued...

*   *   *   *   *


End file.
